Binds That Tie
by BlackDragon41
Summary: Steve and Herobrine had been fighting for years and now the being is about to end it to finalize his revenge. An old witch decides to mediate to prevent a devastating fate to the miner and the world. She curses both Steve and Herobrine and they are turned into children. Together they must get along and fight through mobs and traverse vast lands if they are to be free of the curse.
1. Reminiscence and Revenge

**Binds That Tie**

**Chapter 1: Reminiscence and Revenge**

**A/N: New story! Woot! Anyways, I've had this idea for a while but I decided to go ahead and start on it(I still have like 8 more Minecraft stories I want to do). Unfortunately, Hero's Bane is on a small pause because I have a small writer's block and there is a part that I haven't decided if I am going to add it in yet. Even worse? I have a writer's block on 57 Under as well. MineCrash, my mind just crashes at the thought. I haven't given up on the stories but I wanted to go ahead and post this just in case I don't finish up the next chapter of H'sB this week which is unlikely. Also, sorry if the first chapter seems a little dark but it gets better as the story progresses. Enjoy.**

…

Steve panted heavily as he paced to the side with his eyes locked on orbs of pure glowing white. He could see his own breath from the chilling air of the cool night, the warm fog from his mouth floated upwards and dissipated in the bright light of the full moon in the middle of the sky above. He huffed loudly as the cold air filled his aching lungs. He didn't know how much more of this fight he could take, he had been fighting and running from this demonic look-alike now standing in front of him in the clearing of the oak woods.

"You've slowed down Steve." Herobrine hissed the miner's name with a nasty and vile grin. The being only stood yards from his human double and he didn't feel the tiredness that normal humans felt after long hours of exhausting fights, instead he only felt more thrilled to continue their long hours of combat and strife. With him not having any of the strife since he was on the winning end while the miner was on the losing one.

The miner deeply frowned and gritted his teeth in anger. He was starting to feel the fatigue from the fight that had been raging since the setting of the sun when that demon tracked him down and attacked. He didn't want to admit that he needed to rest because he knew that the man before him known as Herobrine; wasn't going to allow him to escape this time.

"What's the matter mortal? Running out of steam?" Herobrine taunted with his dark and silky voice, he chuckled deeply to himself and raised his sharp pickaxe made of the most durable ore. The diamond tool now used as a weapon gleamed in the moonlight, Herobrine tightened his hand around the handle. "Unfortunately, I am not going to be so- kind in sparing you tonight. No. You do remember what today is right?"

Steve ground his teeth and made a low feral snarl, he was furious with a bad and painful memory coming up. He knew exactly what day it was or more like night. That one faithful hour of darkness; just one year ago, it happened to be the same night as tonight. That day…

"Today was the day that I walked into their home, or should I say night just last year?" He started.

"Shut up!" Steve coiled his empty fist and tightened his hold on his iron sword, being reluctant to move forward from his own weariness.

"It had been the day of their fiftieth anniversary, you came over to celebrate. Perfect timing. They were peacefully sleeping and so were you in the guest room next to theirs."

"I said SHUT UP!" Steve took one deep breath then charged with his blade at his side, heading straight for Herobrine just standing in the opening with a devious smirk plastered on his face. The miner moved his sword over his head as he jumped at the being with determination to strike his enemy, clearly blinded by rage.

Herobrine chuckled again before slinging the pick as soon as the human's sword neared, now deflecting the blade and it's wielder; sending Steve bouncing to the ground and rolling a few feet away. He rolled onto his stomach and forced himself to move onto his hands and knees but a strong weight pressed him back to the ground, the weight was too heavy to lift no matter how hard he tried to push against the force. Herobrine dug the heel of his foot into the center of the man's back; eliciting a loud pained wail before finally removing his foot and reaching down to grab the miner by the back of the neck with a tight squeeze.

"Remember that scream? It was your mother's." He whispered into Steve's ear and the miner retaliated by bringing the weapon around his side to slash his captor but Herobrine deflected it with own weapon and kicked it out of the man's hand. "She was the first to go, but she was lucky to get to see you one last time. You ran into the room shocked from her cry and that priceless look on your face was … delicious."

"LET GO!" Steve moved his elbow up and attempted to slam it into the side of the demon's face but the being quickly released the miner and jumped back.

"She was lucky to see you unlike your father. Too bad I ended him a little too soon, he deserved far more but I just couldn't contain my hate for him nor the joy of seeing him suffer though it was only for a short time. … He laid quietly upon the bed and didn't even notice my presence; so many years without failing to notice me and he falters? He's apparently gotten too old to sense me coming like he used to. Such an unfortunate mistake by nature on his part. I thought our battles were never going to end?" Herobrine chuckled darkly to himself. "I remember his face. It was so- so peaceful and worriless, just the sight of it made me sick. I drove the sharp end of my pick into his neck and held him down as he gagged to death on his own blood, your mother had awoke to the gurgling sounds and then it was her turn."

Steve almost felt the skin on his tightly coiled fists rip, he kept his dark gaze on the ground as the rage and sorrow built inside of him. He trembled, not in fear but in anger. He never felt a hate so strong, he was contemplating on a very daring move but he didn't know if he had the power in him to do it and take down that monster with himself. He had a couple blocks of TnT in his inventory that he was going to use for the mines but now he thought of a better purpose.

"You know, they would probably be still alive if you father hadn't made that forbidden shrine?"

"What are you talking about?" He growled through his teeth.

"Oh, so you don't know that little secret of my reason for being? He must have kept you from that all these years? And it would seem as though I have also neglected to inform you of the truth?… Well, actually not. I had planned for this day as well keeping the truth from you until the time was right so as long as your father did, so it looks like I can now tell you why I hunted and you and him all these years. Why I killed him and your mother, and why you are next in line."

The miner kept his mouth shut, he loved his father to death but there was one thing that he never forgave him for; it might even be the one reason why that man and his mother were dead now. He started to think that Herobrine, him, and his dad was a part of it and that was not a good thought.

"Yes, it was over twenty years ago when you were a young child if I remembered correctly?"

Steve's eyes widened, his fears being realized. It couldn't be what he was thinking, it just couldn't be. He didn't want it to be.

The being placed a hand on his chin and tapped it as he recalled his past. "Hmmmm, that day? Definitely. It has been quite the while now." He removed his hand and stared a slow walk towards the human.

Steve began to take steps backwards, he might have felt the need to get reckless but that fear deep within him made him move away from the dangerous man nearing. "Stay back!" Steve stopped and held his sword out but Herobrine seemed completely un-phased by the weak attempt at being intimidating.

The white-eyed man frowned. "Don't blame me for his death and soon to be yours. He deserved it. After all-," Herobrine suddenly bolted forward in one swift motion and rammed his elbow into the miner's chest; they both flew into a birch tree close by with the miner being slammed painfully and pinned against it by the copy's forearm. Herobrine sneered and leaned in a little closer to Steve's ear and whispered. "-He made me."

Herobrine then let go of his shocked victim before swinging one leg around and kicking the miner in his midsection with power, this had the human careening to the ground several yards away and tumbling to a stop in the tall grasses.

Steve made a pained face but remained wordless as he gasped for air. He rolled in place a few time with his arms tightly tucked around his aching stomach, obviously in a lot of pain. He felt as if his bottom ribs had cracked and they might have been. He even thought that his insides got rearranged, that wasn't a pleasant thought. He coughed a few times and took deep breaths to alleviate the tight compression in his upper torso, he literally had the wind knocked out of him and he had to replace that in which had been lost.

"Well actually, I would say the both of you created me."

Steve squeezed his eyes shut, he never wanted to believe the words coming from the other's mouth but it was just as he feared; what his dad did with him that night was to conjure some deity or entity and the miner just had to be part of it though he didn't want to be evolved in the first place. "I- I wanted- nothing t-to do with it." The grounded man coughed then rolled onto his side and lifted one of his heavy eyes, now looking up the powerful demon.

"Doesn't matter, I am here now and I intend to see my last goal accomplished. I've already killed your father, your mother for the topping of my vengeance to him and now it is your turn and not because you are obviously involved in my summon. I told that man that I was going to take everything away from him in our first encounter and you are all that's left, that's why I'm going to kill you. He wasn't the only one to pay though. They all paid, you are the last and I'm done letting you walk. Our fights are starting to grow old and you cannot even come close to touching me, unlike your father. He and his friends actually almost killed me once and nearly wiped my presence off the face of this world, which is why I started to kill 'them' in the first place, the leader was my one and only primary target but that changed quickly. They should have known better than to even think about destroying me. So now here we are, reciting the history lesson to make the wounds more savory. It seems quite fitting wouldn't you agree?"

"I don't want to hear any of it anymore." Steve winced as he forced himself onto his hands and knees.

"Too bad, I know how much it hurts to recall it Steve, but I just love causing you pain. All kinds of pain. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to just kill you quickly and be on my way; it was your blood used after all that brought me into this pathetic world."

"Damn you." Steve cursed under his breath as he stumbled on his feet and fixed his vulnerable position.

"Where should we start? Ah, when you and your dad were younger. You were but a mere child then." Herobrine began. "Your father hung out with the wrong crowd of people, thinking he was going to do something 'magnificent' to change the world."

"I don't want to hear it!" Steve shouted.

"Him and his 'friends' gathered an assortment of items that are very difficult to obtain and pieced them together to call upon entities from another dimension to their world all in hopes of fulfilling the club's- or should I say 'cult's' goal to try and use this spirit for their own purposes. A powerful slave if you will?" Herobrine smirked as the man before him shook, he could sense the anger, fear, and hate coming from the miner. "Adam was a cultist, just trying to do whatever it was that he could to impress his organization, to make the best of himself and he did collect large portion of the materials needed. In fact, I would say he done at least fifty percent of the work while the others did a quarter of that amount. You- unwillingly, did the rest."

"Stop!" The man placed his hands over his ears and shook his head back and forth.

"They built that empty totem and chanted with dark words, thinking it would be enough… but it wasn't. I manifested in spirit, unaware of who I was or what I was but I saw everything from atop of that pedestal. They argued with each other of what went wrong for hours, it was then when I realized that they couldn't see me, but I couldn't move either so I just stood there and observed their intentions since I had no other choice. They chanted again and again but nothing happened, nothing even happened to me. It turned out that they needed something else, something to bind my essence into this physical realm. Blood. It's the strongest tie in your world and so they decided to use their own to pull me here… but no. Their blood was disgusting, I refused it. All of those men and women there were tainted with transgression and their own indulgences, even demoralized by the very act of creating a shrine for their cult and pulling me to the waking world to do their bidding. I refused to shape myself into any of their revolting images. So after taking turns and pricking their fingers to find no success they finally decided that the ritual required 'blood of the innocent' and none of the cultists had a clear conscious. The leader then thought that they needed fresh, untainted blood. None of them knew of anyone with a clear conscious so the leader came up with the idea of using a child's blood and none of the cultists had any young children, except for him."

"No!" The miner sealed his eyes shut. He could almost remember that very night though he was so young.

…

"_No daddy, please?" The young child tried to pull out of the older man's grasp, seeming very frightened with his expression that was exposed from the fire of the small torch he carried. "I don't want to do this anymore, I'm scared." He tried to pull his small hand from his father's larger one but the man held onto his firmly._

"_It won't hurt too bad, I promise." The older man said with a soft voice as he tugged the little child long in their pace through the dense woods. Steve looked up at his dad but the man's expression was unreadable in the darkness of the hood he wore in the moonlit night. _

_Young Steve could see the dim lighted shrine only yards away with several people standing around the alter all whispering undecipherable words lowly with redstone torches in their hands. Most of them were wearing black cloaks, the only ones who weren't was his dad who wore a red one and the supposed leader; wearing a white one. The leader was the only one who had his hood down._

"_Ah, you brought the boy? Good, I knew I could count on you Adam. It's no wonder why I made you chairmen of our association?" Said the man with one hand held out and the other clinging tightly to a redstone torch. _

_Steve backed behind his dad's leg a little and partially hid his face while clinging tightly to the red robe. The man reaching his hand out to his dad belonged to the only one who didn't have their face hidden by the hood. The white-robed man was bald and his eyes were a deep brown that seemed almost crimson with the reflection of the glowing red torch in his eyes, he looked sinister._

_His dad took that man's hand and shook it._

"_I'm glad I could contribute. But- does it really require this kind of method; using a child to bring the entity here? I mean no disrespect about speaking up against this; but I really don't want to involve my son if I don't have to?" He said with a worrying tone._

"_Look Adam, I know you care for your boy but if we really want to eliminate the living terrors of this world then we must consider all of our options. Sadly, we don't have many, plus using his blood may not even work. We will try everything in our power to bring a powerful being to destroy the monsters, anything. Even if we must use a young child." He sounded regretful but his eyes shown something else. "Those night creatures have taken many lives of our loved ones, it's in everyone's interest that we succeed and put an end to all of those endless hordes of deadly beasts. Besides, I plan to keep my end of the bargain and pay your's and your wife's debts. All two hundred emeralds. Even if this method doesn't succeed then I will pay half, just as promised." He retracted his hand and held it over his heart. "You have my word."_

_Adam took a deep breath and lightly squeezed the child's palm. "You also promised that you wouldn't hurt him. I expect that you'll keep your word on that too, right Jacob?"_

_The man now known as Jacob sighed and looked back at the other cultists who were still chanting. "I can't promise that he'll feel nothing, because taking some blood will be… um… a little painful but we will not harm him with more than a tiny cut. It'll be nothing too concerning." He rolled his eyes as Adam shook his head back in forth in disbelief. "Look, just a minor scratch, if we need more than he'll just have to donate a little more?"_

"_I don't like doing this." Adam replied. "I almost don't-"_

"_But you won't regret your decision!" The man interrupted. "Once we have our tool then the world will become a safer place, anyone would be able to walk out into the dark without fear, miners can work at peace without having to constantly watching their backs, 'children-'" The bald man emphasized loudly. "They'll be safe and grow up without the fear of the world's living monsters, they'll be able to laugh and play and spend time with their parents. A dream we both share, it's our common ground. They will not wind up as orphans, such as you and I." He placed hand upon the other's shoulder and gave a pleading look. "We've both lost ours at young ages, to those monsters. So think about this? Think about him?" He moved his gaze down to the boy._

"_I don't know?"_

"_Think!"_

"_I want what's best for everyone but this summon is starting to look like a bad idea. Not even Sandra knows about our meeting tonight, she doesn't like me even going out to these meetings. She definitely wouldn't want Steven out here either."_

"_You don't have to tell her. She doesn't need to know."_

"_I know. But our procedures are changing and we are resorting to more devious actions to achieve this… this being. For the last six months we have been more like cultists than a group dedicated to protecting our people. These dark words? The sacrifice of animals? The use of blood? The use of innocent children? These things are against Notch! Why the words aren't even in human language. We're trying to conjure something that is beyond our knowledge, our control. Maybe even a god and that would be just blasphemous." He said blankly while looking down at the child._

"_I see your point in this dispute but we are running out of ways, Sally's brother was mauled to death and devoured by a horde zombies just last month. She couldn't do anything to save him, she watched in horror from the window of her house as those vile fiends ripped him apart and consumed him. You know what that did to her? She hasn't been the same since! We are running out of options! It's only a matter of time until our entire village gets wiped out. We must do what we can, we are tired of losing our loved ones Adam. We've lost ones we loved already, we don't need to have more heartbreaks." He looked away and let his head hang low as he removed his hand from Adam's shoulder. "You don't want to lose Sandra do you?" He looked back up with a sorrow filled expression._

_His grip on the child's hand tightened and then he motioned the frightened kid out from behind him. "Come on Steven, it shouldn't take long. He pulled the torch out of the child's hand and held it out for Jacob to take._

"_But dad?" Steve tried to resist and pull out of his grasp, he just wasn't strong enough to. "Please, I don't want to do this, I want mommy!" He started to cry as he was partially dragged closer to the gold and red alter." Dad!?" He screamed._

_His father stopped at a small staircase made of wooden blocks that was leaning next to the shrine and he looked up at the blank alter. "Okay Jacob, this is where you take over." He said with a hint of anger in his tone of voice._

"_No, I cannot. He is your son, just prick the inside of his palm with this knife and hold him down until enough life-fluid has been spilt. Alright?" He raised the small weapon._

_Adam removed his hood and stared long and hard at the blade that Jacob held out, it was made of a black substance. He reluctantly reached for it and took it into his hand. It looked and felt like cold and jagged obsidian, it was a tool that he was about to use on his own child and taking it made a tear come to his eye. He was afraid, more for the child._

"_We will begin the chant again, just do your part and the rewards you get in return will be great. Not only for you but for your family and friends, for your son too."_

_The red-robed man shook his head after looking down at his shaking child. "He's scared, I can't. I just- can't."_

"_You'll be letting us all down, the world down." He said with an aggressive expression, his hood was then pulled over his head. "Do it." He moved his gaze over to the other cultists and nodded. They began the disturbing chant._

"_Up the stairs Steven." He whispered and nudged the child forward with a hand on the kid's back. "Don't worry, I'll be up there with you. I'm scared too."_

"_But-"_

"_It's okay, every-everything's going to be fine." He forced the kid up the small staircase._

_Steve shook visibly as he moved to the main top, he kept his arms coiled up in front of him and stared in horror at the flat surface of the smelly red rock. He felt himself being turned and his father grabbed onto one of his hands, he pulled but Steve didn't let him remove it from his chest. "No!"_

"_Come on, let's just get this over with, then we can go home and you can go back to bed? Okay? I'll even treat you to some cake from aunt Linda's bakery tomorrow?" He tried to sound persuasive but it wasn't working, the child held firm. "Steve?" He asked before his eyes moved down onto Jacob who gave an impatient look, the ritual was already in motion but he wasn't fulfilling his part._

"_I don't want to daddy!" He started to cry again and move down the steps but his father grabbed him from behind and placed him back onto the spot in front of the alter. He pried Steve's right hand free and moved back behind him to keep him from running away and to get a better grip._

"_I'm sorry son." Was all he said as he forced his child's hand open and out over the alter before laying the sharp end of the obsidian blade down onto his palm and pressing in._

_Steve screamed and cried out as his hand shook, his palm had been cut and blood ran between his fingers and fell to the alter; pattering onto the red rock below._

"_Just a little more Adam." Jacob said quietly, but loud enough for the parent to hear._

_Steve had tears flooding down his face and his eyes were glued shut until a glow came from the shrine. He peeled his eyes and the chant became louder. All of the cultists backed away from the shrine but remained perfectly in sync as Jacob took the torch that Adam gave him and stepped closer to the alter._

"_Just a little more Adam."_

"_How much more do you need?!" The father shouted at the man, seeming very distressed with his action._

"_If we want to get this done the right way then we need to get it done the first time, otherwise we'd have to try again."_

_Adam's glare faded as he looked away from the cult leader. He had a feeling his son was going to hate him for this._

"_Please stop! It hurts!" The young one cried and tried to jerk his hand out of his dad's clutches but he couldn't pull away no matter how hard he tried. "Please!?" He shouted at the top of his lungs after seeing his life-fluid seeping from the wound on his palm, he was afraid that he was going to die. His dad was going to let him bleed to death._

"_How long!" Adam sneered at Jacob with anger and impatience._

_Jacob quickly pulled the torch up over his head and moved it towards the top of the blank totem. "That should be enough." He placed the fiery tip on the netherrack and it instantly alighted._

_A single bolt of lightning struck the alter and Steve along with his dad were suddenly sent flying out and away from the alter, now with a face a human's on it. It's eyes glowed a deep red._

…

_Steve's eyes were shut as his head spun, loud screams and thundering footsteps erupted from around him, he even heard crackling sounds like that of fire and it wasn't long before smoke filled his nostrils._

"_Steven, Steven!? Oh Notch, what have I done!?" That familiar voice spoke aloud. It was his dad's._

…

"_Please open your eyes boy, please? I'm sorry!"_

_Steve felt a strong grip around his form and he felt himself being hoisted off of the ground. He pried his eyes and winced from the spinning lights. He cold see flames now, all around like the woods were on fire. He shook his head and blinked and noticed that all of the trees above him were burning down and lighting up his surroundings. He turned his head and saw the alter lit, it was now a little different then he remembered. He blinked again and saw what looked a person standing in the flames on the totem but his head hurt too much to register what he really saw. He was getting father away from the shrine, all he could make out was flames and two piercing white dots through the thickening smoke. "Dad?"_

"_Huh? Steven!" He felt his father's breath on his face. "Oh thank Notch!" He lightly sighed as he sped up his pace. I am so sorry Steve, please forgive me my son? I should have listened to your mother, she said that joining in that group would only cause trouble and she was right. Just hang in there boy, I'm going to get you home and I'll never put you through any kind of mess like this ever again. I swear it!" He cried out. "I'll protect you no matter what."_

…

_Steve felt his eyes growing heavy._

…

_Everything from that point on was nothing but a blur._

…

"He used your blood." Herobrine started again. "You were afraid that the shrine was going to take your life, you believed that your own father was going to let you die. How sad?"

"No, shut up!" Steve dropped his sword and squeezed his ears tighter but even as he did so he could still hear Herobrine's words.

"So now you must die for his mistake." Herobrine started walking towards the miner once more. "This is the price he pays for creating me, you helped in completing the ritual so now here I stand with your form, it's why we look alike. It's why I looked like this for years and why you had to grow into your more fragile form. In essence, you and I are the same, but I am far greater. Thanks for the donation by the way, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for your contribution to the alter."

"Please leave me alone!" Steve quickly noticed the footsteps getting closer so he quickly reached down and took his sword into hand but a boot came down on top of it and kept it trapped to the ground. Steve quickly jumped up and continued to back away.

"Unfortunately for you, I'm not going to let you live. I was created as a tool, an instrument for your pathetic kind to slay monsters and settle disputes for the cult leader. His intentions were not for the 'people' but for himself, he wanted power and he thought he could create and control me? That is his greatest mistake. Your father had his role in it too and he paid for trying to eliminate me. Now as I promised to him-, I will destroy everything he ever held dear and you are all that he has left." Herobrine lifted his pick and jumped up high in the air with a complete flip before landing directly behind the miner and pulling the weapon back, preparing to grab the miner's neck and end it. "It's time to die Steve."

…

Lightweight steps rushed through the tall grass, breaking the silence of the tranquil woods. An elderly woman with a dark colored cloak and hood rushed through the woods as fast as her frail legs could carry her, she gasped for breath as she ran.

"Oh, … I- hope, I hope I make it- in ti-time!" She wheezed, she quickly pulled out a bright blue potion from her inventory and held it firmly as she reached a clearing of oak and birch trees. "Oh no?" She lightly gasped as she ran out and saw Herobrine with his hands now latching onto the back of the miner's neck and forcing the man onto the ground face first with his pick lifted and ready to be jabbed into the man's back. "I have to stop them."

…

**A/N: I know, I don't like to make Herobrine evil but this idea for the Herobrine mod just had to be done. Besides, who doesn't like Kid Brine? :3 Please review and tell me if I should continue on this or not? The next chapter will contain the guys being turned into kids… if the witch stops Herobrine in time?**


	2. Intentions

**Binds That Tie**

**Chapter 2: Intentions**

**A/N: Update in just 1 day?! Yeah, I was in the typing mood today! :D The guys are about to prepare for some change. Please read and enjoy!**

…

"It's time to die Steve." Herobrine quickly caught the miner by surprise and clasped his hand around the back of his neck and shoved the man against the ground with one rough push, keeping his tight grasp on the man so that he couldn't fight back nor escape. The miner gasped loudly as his face hit the ground and he re-angled his neck so that he could breathe fresh air, he tried to squirm out of the hold but as he did the choking force only strengthened. The powerful double raised his pick and smiled with malice, he had waited so long for this day. He then kneeled down on one knee on the center of the man's back, causing the human to wince with more discomfort. Herobrine was tired of putting off the miner's death, once he kills this mortal then everybody that was involved his ensnarement to this world would be gone forever. He would truly and finally feel free.

"Oh no?"

Herobrine instantly glanced in the direction of the new voice and his toothy grin fell into a sneer. "What do you want witch?" He hissed from the interruption, just barley loosening his grasp on Steve's neck as he looked towards the edge of the woods.

Steve turned his head enough to see an old woman walking out in the field, now approaching cautiously with a potion in her hand. She was obviously a witch from her looks and clothing and Herobrine just confirmed it. The old lady was actually quite short. She wore a dark gray cloak and had frosted-stone colored hair and pale blue eyes with many wrinkles as her proof of age. He normally didn't care for witches since most of them always tried to kill him when he incidentally walked onto their properties, but with Herobrine as the deadly predator in this situation he actually kind of felt bad for the elderly sorceress or anyone including himself; to just come across the being. "Go, get out of here while you can, he'll kill yo-!"

The being squeezed the miner's neck again and growled as he quickly glared down at him, he then moved attention back to the old woman. "You might actually want to listen to this mortal and leave while you still can, otherwise you'll end up like him once I finish him off?"

The elder showed no fear on her face as she drew nearer, this made Herobrine furious. The Steve-look-alike now stood up, with one foot now over the back of the weaker man's neck.

"I cannot allow you to continue this madness Herobrine, I have seen many things from the future and I will not settle for what it has in store. I will help change it. Both you and that miner will be the real ones to change it."

The powerful man's frown then curved into a smile. "The future hmm? It sounds like it benefits me from your expression?"

"Not necessarily for you monster. I have seen two versions of the future, one a very bleak one and the other; a bright one. The bright one is composed of a world of piece, a world of normality and balance. The other… a dark world of emptiness and devoid of life. You might think that the darker future would better suit you but that is where you are wrong."

"And just how is that?"

"You will lose yourself in the future, you'll become a mindless form that only brings destruction. Killing that man is only the start of the end of all life in this world." She pointed to Steve and the man lightly lifted his head as a dribble of crimson ran down the corner of his mouth and down past his chin.

Herobrine frowned and narrowed his eyes. "You don't know anything you wretched hag. You are nothing but a mortal who's highly trained with potions and maybe even magic, but you are nothing more."

"And you are nothing but a heartless fiend, born without a heart, without a conscious, without a care in the world! You know no compassion nor pity!" She retaliated verbally and daringly stepped forward.

"That's right. However, there is one thing wrong with that statement." He grinned and threw his pick into the dirt next to Steve's head, barley striking the man as the being crossed his arms.

Steve tired to move an arm to grab onto the glowing weapon but Herobrine put more pressure on his neck and placed his other foot on top of the other one's arm.

"I wasn't born, I was created. To them I was nothing but a tool, just a proxy to do their bidding. After conjuring me those simpleminded fools eventually came crawling and asked… no… commanded me to follow and obey them, to go out and kill the creatures of the night. But that wasn't all. The leader also wanted me to terminate a rival of his, one man and his entire village. He even wanted me to obey his every word and live on an invisible leash to strike fear into everyone's hearts so that he could manipulate them. I refused, I wasn't going to follow orders of a being weaker than myself. Let alone be his chained dog."

"I'm sure their intentions were-, well a few of their intentions were for the better, but that still gave you no right to kill them."

"Maybe you should have found a way to look into the past elder. When I refused to do as they demanded; they tried to ensnare me a with a cultist's entrapment circle, they did manage to hold me down long enough to I guess- try and 'persuade' me but I was no slave and I had no intentions of being one. Then after my refusal; they thought that I was a huge threat for I moved and talked at will. I was a form of power that had a mind of it's own, power and strength that they envied and feared. They were afraid of me. However; they knew I was furious at them and they feared for their lives. I continued to reject their orders so they decided it was in their best interest to destroy me before I destroyed them. To be honest; destroying them at the time really didn't cross my mind, only when they attempted to take me out did I see what punishment they deserved. It was justification." He hissed through his smirk.

"That's not justice!"

"They tried and came close, but I was able to tolerate all of the pain the sent me through, that is why I had to kill them. But killing them alone just wasn't enough for me, I felt more satisfied after taking the lives of their loved ones and destroying everything they owned and everyone they knew. So who's really the victim here? I know they were, but before them; it was I. They got what they deserved."

"Not those who had nothing to do with it!"

"No, they didn't. They were just unfortunate to have been associated with my enemies. Like I said, killing a few wasn't enough. Revenge felt good, expanding that retribution felt even greater." He grinned wickedly.

"Heartless bastard!" The old woman shouted and coiled a fist around her concoction.

Steve looked pretty mad himself but it was hard to distinguish his enraged features with the pained ones taking over as Herobrine unconsciously pressed in.

"That's what happens when you are created and not born, I was made cruel from the get go. They didn't even give me a heart. Who's fault is that?" He unfolded his arms and plucked his pick out of the ground, barely coming close to cutting the miner's cheek. "Now enough with this little charade, I am going to kill this miner here. If you even so much as speak as I begin or intervene in any way then you'll be next. It would be ill-advised to stick around anyway, I might not be too satisfied after claiming this life. I might want more?"

The old witch took a deep breath and started to walk backwards at a slow pace, never taking her eyes off of Herobrine. "That is why you lose yourself in the future, you are mentally and emotionally unstable. Mad. You don't have heart, no sympathy and no conscious-."

"Yes, we've just discussed this witch. Now be on your way or I'll make you wish that you were never even born." He reached down and plucked Steve by the neck again and raised him into the air, lightly tapping the side of the pick against his leg in deciding what he should do first.

"You have absolutely no family, no friends, no one to even care about. …No one to lose so that you don't know the pain that you have created for the innocent. You don't know hurt. … Well I know a way, and you 'will' see how it feels."

Herobrine growled and glared in her direction, now noticing that the aged woman had stopped moving back. She reeled the potion in her hand back and then threw it towards him with a rather good throw. The glass shattered as it hit the ground at Steve's feet, a lot of the blue substance splattered on to Steve's legs. "You've missed me hag, now what do you plan to do?"

"I got enough on you, it is a splash potion after all?" She stared intently, looking for any visible traces and hoping that she didn't just bluff.

Herobrine looked down at his feet and spotted a few droplets on his shoes and the bottom of his pants legs. "Fool. It's not enough to effect me, I am immune to most potions, some are even completely useless."

The witch though feeling a pang in her chest from the her exhaustion; managed to smile. "That's what you think? It doesn't matter how much you get on you, the concoction releases the magical fumes and by standing there and holding Steve; you have been exposed long enough to breath in those fumes. A lot of them and I know you are immune to most potions and you are nearly immortal, but looking into the future has it's advantages. I kept making potions until the right future I wanted to see came to me in visions, this one I assure you; will effect you." She smirked and backed away some more to avoid her own potion's effect.

The powerful man then looked at the miner before tossing him to the side and backing away from the man, slightly concerned about the exposure though he didn't feel anything. So maybe he wouldn't be affected?

"Gaaaaahhhhh!" Steve landed roughly and rolled a few feet away on the ground. He felt a twisting sensation in his chest and he squirmed about as his limbs pulsated, one of his arms moved over his upper torso and he squeezed his shirt as his heart pounded faster.

"I am sorry miner," The old witch said as she faced the pained man. "But I'll need your help and the only way you can is to go through this curse I am placing on Herobrine. I hope you'll forgive me later."

"What did you do to him?" Herobrine sneered at the grounded man.

Steve only grunted and stretched on the ground, he jerked his head back and forth and screamed as his skin started to glow with a warm golden light. The man's taller form started to shift and shrink in size as the golden glow completely consumed him. His pained cries came to a stop and his flailing in place did as well. He rolled onto his side and let his arms fall to the ground as he then shrunk down into a smaller form of imself. The glow completely dimmed out and what was left the body of the boy with the same clothes and face as Steve, however; he was smaller and his features were much younger like the being remembered from seeing the innocent child standing before the alter so many years ago.

"What did you do to him?" Herobrine hissed, clearly distressed that his victim was now unconscious and a kid. He suddenly felt a weird pulse travel through his limbs and he instantly felt weak and sick, he started to shake. He then fell down onto one knee and snorted at the old witch in rage as his skin brightened in color. "What… what's happening to me?!" Herobrine stared at his now glowing hand and seethed as something inside of him churned, he moved hand over his chest.

"It did to him what it's going to be doing to you." The witch now approached the child not too far from Herobrine, the swirling fumes surrounding the miner were gone now. She moved over the boy and smiled as she stared down at his sleeping form, he was indeed a younger version of the miner. The child lightly snored and he looked so peaceful as he laid there with his mouth slightly agape to breathe better.

"I'll KILL you!" Herobrine growled as his body fought the enchanted fumes. He tried to stand up and managed to for a short second but his body collapsed as the golden glow fully consumed him. He outstretched a hand towards the witch as he laid belly flat on the ground, his eyes beamed brighter than the golden light.

The old witch moved her hands behind her back and leisurely paced over to the living entity. "No you won't for you will also become a child, as a child your mentality will change considerably. You will have no such desire regardless of your resentment for me or mankind. Your narrow mind will soon be more open and free to discover more about the world and yourself, you will finally get to experience fear of the world you torment. You might even feel?"

"When I get out of this spell…?" He sneered as he lifted one hand once more before dropping it and slipping out of consciousness.

"You won't Herobrine, not without meeting certain conditions. It is more of a curse that won't be removed unless you change." She whispered before reaching down to the shrunken form of the being and grabbing him by the wrists.

…

…

Steve felt a warm hand on his head as he slightly swayed it from side to side, he slowly pried his eyes to a blurry form of a woman kneeling next to him with the morning sun blinding him from his left side. "Wha-where am I?" He asked with a soft tone as he moved a hand to block some of the sunlight. This tone of voice was familiar but it wasn't the one he should of had. His eyes shot open and he quickly leaned up, now glancing around in fear. He remembered what Herobrine was going to do to him and he couldn't help but feel chills run up his spine, confusion had also set in from seeing what looked like his hands. They were much smaller than he remembered and so were his legs. He felt so small and defenseless.

"Calm down Steve." The raspy voice of an old woman filled his ears, it wasn't a scorning tone but more of one like his grandma used to have.

Steve shook his head and blinked, he couldn't believe what had happened to him, he didn't even know what was wrong except that he shrank in size. "What's wrong with me?!" His voice was… childish? He gaped as he stared at his small palms.

"It's going to be alright young one, just relax. I'll tell you what happened in a few minutes, I first need you to get up. You are not in any danger Steve." She stood up and the miner reluctantly took the witch's wrinkly hand as she offered it to him. She pulled him up and accidentally snapped her back, she winced but repositioned her spine with an unpleasant pop. "You'll have to come with me, the other one is acting rather bratty and I can't seem to get him to come over here."

"Other? And how do you know my name?" He asked in confusion.

"I know your name because I heard it in my visions and yes, there is someone else that I need to talk and discuss things with." She grabbed his hand and started to pull the miner towards the bright early rising sun and Steve moved a hand over his head to block some of the blinding light until they got closer to the tree-line.

Steve squinted as soon as they hit the shade and looked up just as the witch did. The tree in front of him was tall and the branches were quite high up. He felt himself freeze as his eyes landed on the back of a boy with the same colored hair and same colored shirt, the boy wasn't facing him but he just had a bad feeling of who it was and it sent terror flooding through his mind.

"Herobrine, he's awake now! So get down here this instant!" The witch held the miner's hand as he tried to pull away, she knew the young miner would be frightened. She tapped her foot in impatience but the white-eyed one refused to budge, she then gave a devious smile after thinking up a way to coax the kid down. "Okay then, you can stay up there forever but you won't ever be rid of the curse. You'll never be free of that 'childish' form." She sang with a teasing tone. "Besides, it seems to fit you perfectly."

The boy up in the tree visibly shook before turning his head abruptly and revealing those white eyes along with his trademark scowl.

"Come on child, I have something big planned for you and Steve."

"I don't want nothing to do with him." Young Herobrine growled and crossed his arms. "I'm just going to kill him and you after I get the chance."

Steve now tried to tear from the older woman's surprisingly strong grasp, almost tempted to start kicking and hitting if it meant to get away from that dangerous and evil duplicate but that didn't seem like a very nice thing to do to the one who apparently saved him. "I agree, I don't want nothing to do with him either! He'll kill me!" He defended.

"Calm Steve, everything is going to be alright. There is absolutely nothing to fear about Herobrine. Sadly, the curse effects you too and it cannot be broken with out His help. The same goes for him, he cannot turn back to his original state without your help." She said more nicely to Steve but the kid only widened his eyes and gawked up at her in silence. "I know you are probably confused as to why I turned you two into kids in the first place, but time will reveal the truth since you may not want to believe in it right now." Her soft smile turned into a frown as she looked back at the disobedient one with narrowed eyes and her lower lip hanging out. "Especially since 'one' refuses to acknowledge what I say."

"I will not help him, I refuse it!" The boy in the tree hissed.

"You say that Herobrine but you will remain like that forever, especially if I die before you are able to complete the task I have that will set you both free of your curses."

"Task?" Steve suddenly questioned and stopped his struggle.

"Yes Steve. Now stop hiding behind my leg." She pulled him around but he didn't move so easily. "You have nothing to fear about him young one." She patted the 'good' child on the head but he didn't seem so happy to be standing in front of the old lady with Herobrine up in a tree looking down at him. "Okay, come down here or you'll be stuck forever as an eight year old?" She shouted to the other.

"What?!" He glared down.

"That's right. The curse has frozen you at that age until it becomes undone, you can still die but you will never age again alive. That means bad news for you little one."

"But?" Steve now tugged on her robe and she looked down at him with a saddened expression. "Unfortunately, the same goes for you. You will not ever age again and so you'll be trapped like that just as Herobrine would be." She saw the little miner's face go slightly pale with shock and he looked away. "I am sorry, but transforming you guys was the only way to prevent a disastrous fate. It was also to save you Steve." She leaned down and placed a hand on his shoulder, tearing his attention away from the double. "You are the only one that can even start to fix this." She whispered.

"What? Me? But how? Why?" His tone softened.

"Poor curious child." The witch took a deep breath and was about to speak until a loud thud came from behind the miner. Both of them quickly turned to see Herobrine lying flat on his back, they could hear soft whimpers as the rolled onto his side. She almost felt bad for him for falling out of the tree… almost. The fact that he threatened to kill her and came close to killing the miner was enough to keep her reaction to a minimum, she cared but not too much. Even as a kid he wouldn't die easily. "Well at least you finally decided to join us?"

"No-t willingly." He swiftly wiped a tear from one of his eyes and faced away from them. "I just want out of this weak body." He sat up and rubbed his back without looking at them.

"It's your body, the potion only transformed it to that of a child's."

"He fell out of a tree?"

"Indeed he did. Since you were never a child Herobrine, you never had powers in that form and that is why now you are powerless now. It's why you can't just go jumping off trees and cliffs and land perfectly like an ocelot landing on it's fours with perfection after a long fall."

"You mean he's-"

"He is powerless. Therefore you don't have to worry about him trying to kill you."

Steve sighed in relief and then shot a cold glare at Herobrine as soon as the being looked his way, Herobrine of course wasn't phased and only glared back.

The old witch rolled her eyes and pulled Steve closer to Herobrine and the two snarled silently at each other until she pulled them even close together, they then huffed and folded their arms as they touched; refusing to even look at each other. "So now that I have your attention young ones, I am going to tell you how to be free of this everlasting curse and it sounds simple but it will be a long and daunting journey."

"Just get with it already old lady, the sooner I get back to normal the sooner I complete my revenge." The white-eyed one said out of impatience. After hearing what sounded like a gulp; he tilted his head enough to see Steve in the corner of his vision, the boy seemed uneasy with his new stance. Herobrine grinned, he still had the fear instilled in the miner.

"That's enough Herobrine!" She scolded the child but he only looked away.

"Humph, it's not my fault he's weak?"

Steve growled then turned to face the other but he was disinterested and paid no attention. "Just because I'm human doesn't make me weak!"

"You were during all of our fights and I even came close." He replied with spite.

The young miner curved his fingers into a fist. "You-," He began.

"Boys!" The elder shouted out loud and placed her hands on her hips in irritation. "Quiet down this instant or I'll just leave you like this!" Steve frowned deeply and lowered his head while Herobrine only snorted and ignored her outburst. "The only way for either of you to ever return back to normal will require teamwork and cooperation, otherwise you won't get far. Especially with the monsters that hide in the dark!" Steve shivered and gulped after hearing that. "You will likely run into them and have to work with each other to survive them and any other danger you come across. Finding food and traversing the lands will also need cooperation. Both of you will need to pick each other up when one falls."

"What are we even looking for?" Herobrine asked.

"You have to travel together no matter how much you despise one another but reaching the enchanted pillar is the only thing that can turn you back. No one else can help you along this journey, it must be the two of you alone. Make it to the sacred column out in the great woodlands of the west, it is very far away and I can give you a map but the trek will have it's challenges. The column is made of cobblestone, once the both of you touch at the same time; the curse will be lifted."

"Good, we should get going then?"

"Not so fast Herobrine. I am not sending a few kids out on a perilous journey without at least giving them some supplies. I have a small house east of here within these deep woods, we'll stop there before I send you on your way. Besides, you have to wait on Steve."

"It doesn't matter, once I grow back into my powerful state I will make sure you suffer. The miner too, I'll be sure you pay even more." He folded his arms and began walking through the woods.

"He's… he's-…" Steve shook his fists and sighed as the young being disappeared behind the brush. He was about to follow the boy at a distance but a hand landed on his shoulder and he spun to see the witch now kneeling down to him.

"I need you to listen very carefully Steve, this is very important." She looked over the kid's head to see Herobrine was gone.

"What?" Steve blinked and looked back to see what the sorceress was looking at.

She grabbed him by the cheek and turned him to face her, she had a serious expression on her face. "Listen child. Trying to achieve the better fate falls out of my hands from here, my part has been done. Now it's completely up to you- young one to change him."

"Him… change? Herobri-"

She only nodded and Steve shot her a confusing look with his head tilted. "Wha-?"

"I intended to turn you two into kids for a reason, my intentions mean well-, it's for the sake everyone but it's going to require you to- to-. … Look. I know you probably don't want to do this… but I need you to- befriend him."

The miner moved away from her and shook his head, he seemed frightened as he took steps back. "I can-can't. He's mean. He's evil! He tried to kill me!" He stopped and squeezed his eyes shut. "He won't!"

"I know that. But just as I've have said last night. He's cold, withdrawn, heartless, and pitiless. You want to know why?"

"It's because he's bad!"

"No Steve, he has been acting bad but it's not entirely his fault."

Steve pried his eyes open and looked at the ground with confusion.

"He was created by the cultists like he said before which meant that he never grew up from an infant. He was never a child, he never had parents nor siblings. No family to make memories with, no bonds to tie him to other people. He can't see the point of friendship, I don't even think he even knows what it is? He has no one to care about, no one to share pain with. He can't feel the deep connections like us, especially when we lose the ones we love, like how you lost your parents?"

Steve felt a wetness in the corner of his eyes as he moved his gaze to the old woman.

"He doesn't know how to care. That's why I need you to at least try Steve, try to build some kind of companionship or tolerance on this trip. He won't willingly make friends, he now sees humans as just weaker beings and so he will not open up to them. But you are different, he already knows you from years of battles and he was made from your blood so you have a better chance to change him more than anyone else. I know you harbor a great hate for him since he killed your mother and father but I need you to do this; not just for his sake and yours- but for the world's, he will become his own destruction within time and every living creature will pay."

"I-"

"It will be tough and you may never find forgiveness; but I just want you to show him what it's like to be human, to be alive, to know how to care, to know what true happiness is? Maybe then he'll finally develop a conscious? To finally see the error of his ways? Can you do that for me?"

The small miner rubbed his forehead but silently nodded as he wiped his stinging eyes.

"Thank you Steve, you are a good person." She said as she place a hand upon his head and ran her fingers over his scalp. "You truly are."

…

**A/N: What do you guys think? Please tell me in a review, I love feedback and it encourages me to write more!**


	3. The Pact

**Binds That Tie**

**Chapter 3: The Pact**

**A/N: Two updates again?! 1 for Hero's Bane and 1 for Binds that Tie in the same day? Awesome! That's 4 updates in two weeks! I don't know if I can pull that off again? Anyways! So as far as we all know… Herobrine and Steve have been turned into kids, Herobrine doesn't know how to care, and now the witch has put Steve on a mission to try to befriend his greatest enemy. Read and Enjoy.**

…

Steve sighed as he walked through the woods, he had too much on his mind and most of it was regarding the dangers he'd encounter, the tough terrain he'd have to cross, the monsters he'd likely run into, and of course; Herobrine. His tiny hand lightly squeezed the larger one he clung to, he was afraid. Just yesterday he wasn't much afraid of anything other than the white-eyed demon… and creepers but now it seemed that just about everything now terrified him, even the old lady. He did after all; get turned into a kid but still, he never recalled being this anxious just walking through the woods during the daytime.

"You seem frightened young one, tell me what's on your mind?"

The young miner looked up to see the friendly witch looking back down at him with a weak smile. He looked back on his path and his eyes searched his surroundings, almost as if it was pure instinct driving him to out of fear. Then his blue eyes landed on the boy quite the distance from him and he shivered. "I don't know why I'm feeling this way? I feel like a lone silverfish in the presence of giants, everything around is making me nervous I- I feel so-"

"Weak? Small?"

"Yeah." He lightly nodded and squeezed her hand tighter.

"Don't be, I have faith in you boy and maybe 'some' in the other? But you need to look on the positive side of things if you want to achieve your goal?"

"I normally do. Did. When I was a kid…er… long ago, I wasn't afraid for much things. Maybe a few mobs but I used to be active and go into dark caves and run through the woods when my parents told me not to, I used to be so carefree and more courageous than I am now." He looked down at his feet as the witch stopped their advance. He heard her sigh.

"You want to know why you feel this way?" She asked quietly and the boy moved his gaze up to her in curiosity. "I think it's because of your change. Back when you were only a child, you weren't as aware of the unseen dangers because you were probably having too much fun as you played and explored like normal children do. Then you grew up, from there you learned of the dangers in this world and you became more mature about your actions in your environment. You became smarter but also stronger so that you could defend yourself and get away from danger. Those life experiences you had growing in many ways, you were probably concerned for your wellbeing though; that kind of thing never goes away when you learn of pain and fear. But now that you are a kid again; you retained that concern and those experiences in your memories, therefore, now being smaller and feeble in you current stature makes you feel defenseless."

"Then how can I even get through the first night of this journey? I'm not as strong as I used to be and now I'm just a scaredy-cat, how can I do this?"

"There's a little thing called self-confidence you know?" She placed a hand on his shoulder but he shrugged it off.

"I don't seem to have that anymore." He said with a flat tone.

"Well sure you do, it's just hiding behind all of your doubts. Put more belief in yourself, I won't be following to give you some. Herobrine seems to have plenty all on his own." She then turned Steve around and they watched as he trudged quietly with his arms folded like he was fearless. "I mean look at him? He acts like nothing can bring him down, you should be feeling that way. …But then again?" The witch tapped her chin as she thought. "He's never felt fear or experienced weakness before. Hmmmm? You may want to watch over him and make sure he doesn't get too cocky and get himself killed. He's not aware of danger like you are."

"I can't. He doesn't need-" Steve suddenly felt a slap on the back of his hand and he quickly removed it out of the elder's and rubbed the sting.

"Don't say that." She said in a motherly tone.

"Owww, why did you hit me?"

"A slap on the wrist goes a long way. Or slap on the back of the hand? Anyway, you don't need to do that."

"Do what?" The child continued to rub the sore spot.

"Be like that. You can't make this trip if you keep looking at the negative side of things, you need to keep your chin up and take this step by step. You are the only one that Herobrine can depend on and you are going to have to depend on him."

"Him?!" Steve gawked again and looked back to see the duplicate disappear into the shadows of the overgrowth.

"Who else? Are we going to have to discuss this again? Here?" She latched onto Steve's hand and tugged them along on the unmarked path. "He's getting too far ahead again."

"Why do we have to depend on each other? You know he's not going to help me when I need it."

"You need each other because the curse cannot be broken unless the both of you. … Alive," She added. "Touch the enchanted cobble structure at the same time. He'll probably try to keep you alive for that reason alone in the beginning of this journey, but that could change if you show him patience and understanding. Kindness and tolerance too."

"He's a jerk! No matter what I show him he'll just work with me until we are freed and returned to our older states, then he'll just turn around and stab me in back once he gets his way. He's only going to use me and then finish me off once it's over."

"I don't know about that miner? He may not know how to feel yet but with some time and experience it could change him? Also, this curse has many conditions that must be met in order to- … ah, … never mind." She rubbed her head and then reached back and pulled the hood down over her head as the sunlight burned her eyes. She picked up her pace as soon as she saw the bewilderment on the young one's features.

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"In due time. If I told you now then… then- it just gets too complicated." She said flatly.

"But I want to know more?"

"No, it may only make you stop on your journey and we don't need that. Besides, it's your task to try and change him remember? He doesn't have warm feelings for anyone or anything. He doesn't know what it's like to care. Just show him that and be persistent with your good actions and emotions and maybe he'll pick up on it? Children have always been able to learn better and their minds aren't fogged and narrowed like adults or in this case; summoned fiends with a one track mind. He should be able to learn sympathy if it is given?"

"Should? If?"

"There's no point in having doubt, you need to remain constant and have that drive, that motivation to get him to see things from your eyes. Herobrine's mind is more open and accepting to new things then it'll ever be, this is probably the only opportunity reach out to him and say 'hey, this is what we feel and now you should be able to feel it too.' I know he seems so closed off and distant, but trust me when I say this in this point of time; this is the time to show him. Don't let his tough exterior or cruel-like attitude keep you from reaching out? The willingness may not seem to be there but it is. That is why he had to be turned into a child, seeing from our eyes is the only way to change him."

"I don't get that?"

"Hmmm?"

"Why didn't you just turn only him into a kid forever and leave him that way?"

The elder's smile faded and she gave a rather 'concerning' look to the boy at her side. "If I did that then he would eventually-" She sighed again. "I lied to him and with a good reason. Unfortunately for the both of us… The curse would eventually wear off in time and he'd then build an immunity to it." She said quietly, hoping that the powerless being had lost his great senses too.

Steve blinked in disbelief then looked away from her to see Herobrine's form still far up ahead. "But?"

"Herobrine's 'body' is identical to that of any normal human's but his power does not come from it; it comes from his essence, his spiritual form that he entered this world with. The body can build an immunity to magic and poisons because of his power so that is why I had to do this and why you have to complete my request in order to change him. Otherwise, once it wears off in about- one- maybe two weeks… possibly three weeks tops? He'll then have a resistance to it and I have yet to find an alternative way to stop him, If he doesn't find me and kill me after he kills you once the curse wears off? And don't ask about me killing his younger body, I may be a witch but children? I cannot kill. That's why you 'have' to befriend him, if you don't make it to the enchanted pillar quick enough then he'll turn back to his normal state and he will kill you. I am hoping that friendship would be enough to avoid that. This is one of the reasons why I need you Steve? As a non-compassionate being, it would seem unfair to leave him so cold and malevolent forever don't you think?"

Steve heavily sighed and took the old woman's hand as she reached out. "Alright, I'll try my best. I can't grantee anything, but I will try."

"Thank you." The elder smiled and Steve even seemed to make a weak smile.

"You're different than most witches."

"What makes you say that? I've had my fair share of encounters with intruders and thieves, I cannot say my hands are clean."

'Then why are you being so nice? Why do you care about us? I mean you could have just left us back there and told us what we had to do instead of actually giving us a map and supplies? We could go out there and die and be killed?"

"That is a great question child, you are quite observant and mindful of strangers. I will go ahead and answer your questions though. Yes I do care about you Steve and I can only say I feel sorry for Him as of now. Normally anyone, any miner or traveler would eat a bunch of spells for trespassing; even if they trespass by accident. But I have changed." She smiled softly and took a deep breath. "Just a few weeks ago; I was what you men would call an old hag trying to expand her knowledge of magic and potion making for her own gain. But one night; I had a dream."

"A dream?"

She quickly nodded. "Indeed. I saw a child standing before an alter with his dad behind him and they commenced with a dark ritual to summon a powerful being beyond this world to protect the people but in this same dream then turned into a nightmare as it continued on and on. I don't know how I got this vision but something tells me that it is destiny trying to warn me. When I awoke I decided that it was more than just a dream but an opportunity to change a grave fate. That was what I decided I wanted to do and so I studied upon visions but I didn't find many answers, I did however; get more revelations as the days passed."

"What kind of things did you see?"

"Horrible things." She concluded as she swayed her head back in forth. "I saw what Herobrine became after he killed you. It wasn't the day after nor a month after, it was when one full year passed that he started to lose his mind."

"Lose his mind?"

"He spent that entire year stepping on the innocent, killing anyone in his way and suffering from madness as days passed. Then on the same night he killed you; approximately one year after, he just became blank. He was devoid of emotion, even hate and rage. He became a mindless monster destroying everything he touched for no reason whatsoever."

"What are you talking about?"

The witch tightened her grasp on the boy's hand but he didn't seem to notice as he stared up at her. "When he killed you he lost his purpose in life. He had already killed everyone who helped in summoning him but he then seemed lost afterwards, confused once you were gone. He was intended by the cultists to protect the world and it's people, but it was the cult's leader who intended the being to be a tool of destruction, to be summoned as his puppet for his own purposes; though the followers did not know what they were actually chanting words for the leader's intent. However, Herobrine wasn't fully bound to the cult leader so he wasn't obedient. Herobrine was prideful and too power to be attached to strings and toyed with by someone so weak that he had no connection to. Anyways, these two intentions gave the man a purpose but that first one was played off as an act by the cult leader, this made Herobrine believe that he was only summoned for some man's dirty work and that was it. Once Herobrine got his revenge 'the dirty work' then that seemed to be it for him. He just broke down over time and became what the cult leader wanted him to be. A tool of destruction, but without strings attached. He destroys mountains, conjures great storms that ravage the lands, and he kills most humans. Only those who hid well deep within the ground survived but they cannot live for long, not without running out of food rations and water sources. He will bring destruction to all living things and even to the world itself."

The young miner backed away. "That can't happen! It can't, I won't let it!" Steve tore his grasp from the witch's and ran after Herobrine.

"No Steve stop!" She pushed her legs to run as fast as she could, the child was fast. "Don't Steve!"

Steve could now see Herobrine about twenty blocks ahead and he was determined to not allow him to become that destructive monster, he is bad enough as he is." Herobrine!" Steve paced quickly until something caught his wrist and made him come to an abrupt halt. "Ah, let me go!" He screamed but as he faced his captor he calmed.

Herobrine then turned his head to commotion and stared for a second before shrugging the disturbance off and continuing. He didn't know what prompt the miner to just run at him but he didn't care, that boy couldn't do anything to him.

"Steve!" She pulled him close and waited for the demon boy to continue walking ahead before looking down at the miner with a serious face. "You can't go and do that!" She whispered loudly.

"Do what?!" He whispered loudly back. "I was just going to tell him what he'd bec-"

"No, you can't!"

"Why not?!"

She huffed then shook her head. "You just can't! That is tampering with fate, I shouldn't have even told you any of this but I wanted to make you see that you needed to make this journey and befriend him." She began to walk again and Steve obediently followed.

"I should have said something sooner. Just know that telling him could change things… and maybe for the worse?"

"Okay?" he said with a disappointed tone. "But how would he go blank? It doesn't make any sense?"

"He is not from our world so his mind doesn't work like ours. You can spend a full year building on your dream home but then after that you can go and build more wonderful things in the future and spend the rest of your life mining until your heart is content, unlike Herobrine who can't. He bound here in our world by a blood pact. Once he finishes his 'pact' or work he has nothing let to do, he'll have nothing left that gives him purpose in being a physical entity. We live life to live it. He is a different being so he exists to complete his pact he made with his summoner and then leaves once his work is complete. Unfortunately, he mentally self-destructs in this case, because he has nothing left to do or live for in this world because he breaks his pact instead of completing it. He destroys his one reason in being here and doesn't even know it. So he's trapped in eternal conflict forever and becomes a mindless entity endlessly trying to create a purpose that he is not capable of doing on his own. I know this is a lot to take in and it seems a little unbelievable but trust me, it's all real. That is what my dreams has shown me. Some of those visions just don't make sense but trust me, but they all end with a bleak fate for all including him."

"Is there anyway to avoid this?"

"I'm afraid not, at least not that I am aware of. I have one idea but it can't work with you alive and therefore is useless to try because it will fail anyways if you are dead."

"What do you mean? You're confusing me?"

"There was a reason he didn't and still can't see yet, his true purpose to keep him rationally functional in this world. He is too blinded by his hatred for the cultists to realize his blood ties to you."

"Bl-Blood ties?" He asked with a soft stutter.

"The chants may have been one thing but the blood is another, he was supposed to be in a binding pact with you and you alone since yours was used to bind him to this realm. He was to do whatever it is that you wish him to at that shrine, but he was too blind by the leader's intentions and his own pride to submit to human demands nor to a child's. So the pact was left incomplete, it still is. You never wanted to be part of the cult, to be cut and aid the summoning of him. You wanted everything to be back to the way it was, you wanted 'your life' to be normal again. ….You didn't want to die. … It's a shame he didn't realize it soon enough, only after you were dead did he find his true purpose to continue on, it was your unspoken request, your heart's desire at that totem to live. The pact. He then threw away his pride to give himself a purpose so that he would remain sane in his form and do his job, but without you being there alive he couldn't live to keep you alive and so he lost himself from his own greatest mistake. He broke the pact and paid dearly for it."

"That was his original purpose? To keep me alive?" He asked with slight disbelief.

"It's what you wanted when your father cut you Steve. That pact was made by blood. You didn't want to die and Herobrine would assure that wouldn't happen and he would be doing that today if the cult's leader didn't summon him using that outwardly chant in the form of his desire. He played those poor people for fools and masked his chant and intention with what he 'claimed' to be for good reasons. A hero to save Minecraftians from monsters. Instead, he made one through his own selfishness and ambitions to govern people. He had a good objective at first but the closer he got to success the more he desired authority over his people and his enemies. All of this was shown to me through the visions and I take it very seriously. I shouldn't have even told you this, but you should at least know this if the journey goes awry. Remember. You cannot tell Herobrine any of this."

"He will probably never believe I even if I did. Something still bothers me though? He will mentally destruct once I eventually die. How can I give him a new purpose; that's if doesn't kill me after the journey ends?"

"I am unsure if you can and I haven't had any visions on that matter, but it is something I will try to figure out. Maybe fate will throw something out there to fix the inevitable ending of the world? Herobrine shouldn't have ever been summoned in the world in first place. All I know is that we have to stop him now if we are to even last long enough to get the opportunity?"

"One more thing? Will he still try to kill me… if we … become friends?"

The witch sighed again and rubbed her forehead. "Probably? He knows not of his pact. … Hmmm. Well, at least once he gets his older form?… To be honest… I don't really know? It could fix our present issue or worsen it. But I need you alive if I am going to even start to find a way. He may still try to kill you afterwards so keep your guard up."

Steve frowned.

"Hopefully he will try to put it off and only attack you like he has been for years now, his purpose still exists with you alive. He will only realize his old and original purpose once you are dead and the pact is broken. If the pact is broken then he himself will become broken. That is the problem I am trying to figure out for the future if you get lucky and die by old age, but we need him to have any care first in order for him to see his and the world's fate; he must also develop the want to prevent it as well. That is why you need to change him and bring him back here once you complete the journey. I will explain anything to him that you can't once the ordeal is over."

"So he'll be broken if he does kill me or if I die by chance?"

"Yes, you are the form of the pact itself. You must fight hard and keep yourself alive Steve, or you will doom all of us. It is a great burden that you must carry and I am sorry that it is yours alone, no one else can take it from you. Keep in mind that failure is not an option." She sighed once more. "If only Herobrine could realize his true purpose? His pact."

…

**A/N: Sorry if it's mostly dialogue, Steve and Herobrine will start their journey in the next chapter! Hope I didn't confuse you and hope you enjoyed! Please review!**


	4. Tension

**Binds That Tie**

**Chapter 4: Tension**

**A/N: Sorry if that last chapter had too many question marks, sometimes I do that without noticing. I'll go back and fix it later. Also, I finished this so that I can work on Hero's Bane next and hopefully have an update on either Sunday night or Monday evening. Enjoy!**

…

"About time?" Herobrine muttered as he kept himself leaning against the side of the small house in the shadow of a large tree hovering partially over the structure, he quietly awaited for the two stragglers but it was grating on his patience of how long they were taking. He thought he could already be on the road to recovering his real form and powers already and just be done with his predicament but that pathetic miner and the old woman just kept taking precious minutes and making him stay in this weak state longer. "Even walking here and I still beat you Steve? Walking is something you are kind of good at, running? Even better." He said with a smirk. "Did you have to hold onto the slow hag's hand the entire time? What an infant."

The witch narrowed her eyes as she looked at the evil Steve double, he was so arrogant, annoying, and just plain rude. It was even more annoying now that he was an eight year old, normally she wouldn't of expected Herobrine to say what he did like that but his mentality had changed a little. Less than she expected, but still; he had to have that spoiled and childish tone of voice and it was getting on her nerves. She was about to give that boy a piece of her mind but Steve walked out in front of her, or more like stomped out in front with his fists coiled. Seems like someone else didn't like what the brat had to say.

Steve had mixed feelings as he bravely trudged up towards Herobrine. He felt bad that the being didn't have any positive 'human' feelings and had forgotten his true purpose in which he'd eventually become a mindless body of power that destroys everything he touches in the future if the miner didn't succeed in changing him, but on the other hand; he was angry from everything the being ever did to him and now the insults to him and the witch. Mad that his double was so cruel and bullied him over something as simple as walking with a nice old lady that had the 'care' to help them and was even going to give them supplies and a map to start on their journey. Besides, he wouldn't of learned the truth of anything if she didn't talk to him. He wouldn't be so eager to help the being and not know ahead of time that the white-eyed boy would ultimately turn back into the murderous man within a week's or more time, and that was if he was lucky. Herobrine was completely oblivious to the kindness the old lady was going to show them which meant it was going to take a lot more than survival items… no gifts, to even get him started on seeing life through a new light.

He stopped as he came within two feet of the being and he only glared silently as Herobrine leaned up from the wall and glared back with a daunting grin. "You can insult me but don't insult her!" He daringly moved a hand forward and pushed Herobrine back an inch to show how serious he was. "She's going to help us out a lo-" Steve suddenly felt himself being shoved back and he gaped silently before pushing back with a deep growl. "Stop that!"

"You started it." He brought his palm top the miner's chest and heaved.

"Well…" Steve paused and deeply frowned after realizing he pushed Herobrine first.

"Well?" Herobrine prodded?

"Well, I'm going to finish it!" He shoved again and this time made Herobrine back into the house and he frowned from the feeling of being cornered.

"Oh really?" He retaliated by shoving harder and caused the miner to fall flat on his rear end.

Steve stood up and huffed before wiping the dirt off of his pants, struggling to get under control of his childish anger. "Well yeah. I'm done with this. I might have been turned into a child but I am certainly not going to act like one, like you." He pointed before turning away from Herobrine and walking towards the witch.

Herobrine grinned again and this time he moved towards Steve and pushed him with both hands and caused the other boy to stumble forward a few feet and almost made him fall face-forward to the ground, he was lucky to catch himself in his stagger. "Still weak. That's how you were on the day I killed 'them'. You couldn't do anything then and you still- can't-." He provoked.

"That's it!" Steve clenched his fists as tight as he could and then turned and ran at Herobrine and slammed him into the house with as much force as he could, powered by rage and hate. A few stray tears ran down the sides of his cheeks as he moved his fists against his enemy. Pushing and shoving was one thing, but reminding him about something he was powerless to stop as 'they' were killed? That crossed the line.

The white-eyed boy was actually taken aback and somewhat shocked as he collided with the wooden building, actually feeling a strong force pounding against his chest and feeling it become more tender by the second as Steve hammered his fists at him. He hated this new feeling, he hated the one causing it. He rose his own fist up and slammed it into the miner's face to get the boy off of him, that did little to stop Steve and that was surprising to say the least. He continued to punch back, making sure to land good blows to the unrelenting miner's face.

"Stop both of you this instant! We have more important things to worry about then the two of you starting fights! We definitely don't have the time!" The witch shouted but the kids kept throwing punches at each other and believe it or not; she actually thought Steve was going to beat the little brat to death. He was taking some good wallops but that didn't deter him from striking Herobrine repeatedly. She quickly tramped over to them and tugged at Steve's shoulder but he completely ignored her and continued to clout Herobrine, landing a few hard punches to the other's gut and making the being now using his arms to defend himself instead of hitting back. "THAT'S ENOUGH!" She placed both of her hands on Steve's shoulders and tore him off of the other and pulled him away. She grabbed one of his arms to keep him from moving and tackling Herobrine, though he really deserved it. "Steve calm down right now!" She made the boy face her and he looked away from both her and his rival now that the fight was over.

Herobrine growled and wrapped an arm around his stomach, he looked to be in some pain. That could be his first lesson? The witch thought.

She grabbed Steve by the chin and made him face her. He was silently crying, only having tears run down his warm cheeks as he remained wordless. His blue eyes were watery and his cheeks were red and puffy from the strikes and his lack of air from the fight. The miner tried to face away again but she wouldn't let him.

"Leave me alone." Steve groaned as he rose his hand to rub his sore cheek and wipe away the tears that irritated his skin as they flowed downward.

"No." The elderly sorceress simply said. She really did feel bad for the kid, he was supposed to retain his mentality more than Herobrine since he already grew up, had enough life experiences and such but that wasn't the case now. At least not when It came down to the murder of his parents. "You are going to have to learn to not be bothered by what he says, he's only trying to goad you into fights. He can't help himself right now and you need to realize that. He doesn't feel. He wants you to hurt and pay for something that wasn't really ever your fault. … Which now that I see, he may be regretting since he got most of the physical pain in that fight?" She looked up and saw the little being partially hidden behind the tree, sitting down and gently running his hand over his chest and upper abdomen with low groans.

"I'm sorry." He said with an apologetic tone, looking down at his feet in shame.

"I am not the one you should be saying that to."

Steve narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms as he looked back up at her. "I'm not telling _him_ that, he started it!"

The witch sighed and rubbed her temples. "Steve, you can't even ever have the hope to change him if you fight with him the entire way and not show him things like forgiveness and sympathy? You should be more mature in the mind than him so you should know better to handle these small scuffles and get past them. So, apologize to him."

Steve only looked away and rubbed his tender cheek.

"Well, later then. At least once you cool down anyways." She grabbed his arm and he let her pull it from his chest, she pulled him along as she walked towards Herobrine. The witch tugged Steve along and let him go as she reached the other child. The boy had then fully turned away as she drew near. "Alright Herobrat, come on?" She reached an arm down and tapped him on the shoulder but he refused to look at her or budge, he only continued to rub his chest. "You pretty much started it and you got what you had coming, but now you need to get up. I have to give you guys a few things before you leave here or you could die on this trip." She shook him but he still didn't move.

"Come on?!"

Steve didn't bother even looking in Herobrine's direction until he heard what sounded like the boy sniveling? That was very surprising. Fight after fight he had with Herobrine before their curse and not once in any of the battles had the being ever shown an expression or made a sound of pain, so this was definitely new. A prick of guilt rested in his chest and he just couldn't shake it, he shouldn't even feel remorse for hurting his parent's killer but he did.

The witch let go and left Herobrine to stew in his mood. "Come Steve, at least I can give you something."

The miner lightly nodded and followed behind her, taking only a short glance back at his rival as he walked into the house. His eyes soon darted around the small windowless interior as he walked in and he couldn't believe how much stuff the woman had. Strange smells instantly filled his nostrils, the place smelled like melon, gunpowder, carrots, and rotten zombie flesh. This witch had tons of potions on long shelves that lined most of the walls and ran around the entire one-room building. A few cobwebs clung to the ceiling in the back corner and partially hid a shelf with few empty bottles as well as a few burnt-out torches. She had an open fireplace at the main end of the room with bookcases on each side loaded with books, some books even laid on the floor. Many of the manuscripts were stacked up on a few countertops next to the cauldron and brewing station along with loose sheets of paper and scrolls. Loads of ingredients were piled on any flat surface he could see that wasn't the floor, some were even piled on her small dusty makeshift bed of wooden planks and sheets of wool and leather. Though the place made him feel crammed it did have that home-feeling, the crackle from the fireplace along with the warm cozy temperature of the room almost made him sleepy. The smell really didn't bother him, he could take a nap right there on the dusty floor if he wasn't about to go on a long journey.

"Okay, lets see here?" The witch tapped her chin as she looked around. "Maybe I put it over here?" She moved away from her bed where she was standing as the miner came in and dug through a pile of ingredients, she dropped a few chunks of redstone as she moved stuff around but paid no mind to mess she was making. "Not here." She then moved over to her cauldron and smiled. "Ah, here it is!" She grabbed onto the item from behind the and pot and pulled it out.

Steve felt himself smile as she pulled out a wooden sword and handed it to him, but then his grin fell as he remembered that he had an iron one. "Where's my-"

It should be in your inventory, but I wouldn't worry about using it if I were you? It's going to be too heavy for you right now so I made you one that is lighter." She handed it to him and he carefully studied the item but it was nowhere near sharp.

"It's not very sharp." He said with disappointment. "I don't even think it could cut grass?"

"Hm, probably not but it is better than nothing. I'm a witch not a blacksmith, so sorry to disappoint. Oh?" She put her hands on her hip and gave a light chuckle as she looked behind Steve. "Look who finally decided to join us?"

Steve quickly turned around to see Herobrine standing by the doorframe, he looked angry with his position but only glared quietly as he stood there.

"Well, I do have something for you too Herobrine."

"I don't want or need it." He said with a deep frown.

"Don't be silly, that diamond pick of your is too heavy and don't deny it?" She waved a finger at him. "I saw you trying to swing it around in the air earlier and you could barely get it off of the ground, so I made a wooden pick for you. I would have made you a sword but you're going to need a pickaxe to harvest some coal if you run out."

"Run out? We don't even have any old hag."

"Patience Hero-brat." She said with a deflated scornful tone and this made him sneer. She handed him the pick and he reluctantly took it before she moved closer to the fireplace and grabbed some coal ores and scooped up a pile into her arms. "Now which one of you wants to carry the coal?" She asked but neither seemed to volunteering until Steve sighed and held out his hands like the good child he was. "Thank you." She handed him handfuls at a time and the boy stuffed them into his inventory coming to an amount of twelve chunks.

"Do we have to make torches?" Steve softly asked.

"Not yet, I can give you guys a few. And be thankful, I don't really have much coal or torches or anything, but I can always go looking for some more stuff or make some trades with the local villagers." She quickly moved over to her bed grabbed a few unlit torches that laid in a small stack, she evened the amount and gave both Herobrine and Steve. She then moved about in the small house grabbing many things before handing them to the boys, most of it was taken by Steve since Herobrine refused to take things that seemed 'useless' to him.

"How much stuff are you going to give us?" He asked, now checking his inventory to find coal, torches, bottles of water, a few labeled potions, wooden sticks, a few iron ingots, some apples, potatoes, and carrots. As well as wooden planks, a few loafs of bread, some dried steak, leather strips, string, and a compass.

She then held out the map for Steve to take but Herobrine quickly moved to take it out of the elderly woman's hand before the miner could.

"I'll take it. It's only one of the few things here that'll be of any use." He grumbled.

"Hey?" Steve narrowed his eyes but the white-eyed one ignored him.

"That was rude, but at least he finally decided to take something other than the bucket and flint? Hmmm… is there anything else I can give you boys?" She scanned the room, turning her head in every direction to see if there was anything else they'd need. … "No. … Wait!" Her eyes landed on her bed. "One more thing!" The witch moved back towards her bed and started to pull off the sheets, dumping most of the items that were on the covers onto the thin mattress made of a woolen sheet. Herobrine only sighed and walked out the door. "Here, both of you can have a leather sheet to keep you warm at night or if you pass through cold climates, it's not as soft as wool but it's pretty much water proof and could keep you dry when it rains." She folded the large grey dyed leather pelt and handed the first one to Steve who seemed all too happy to take it, she noticed that Herobrine just left. "Wait Herobrine, I have one for you too?" She poked her head out the door and waved the dyed black one but the being continued to ignore her. "Herobrine?"

"I don't need it."

"You say that now but you'll regret it."

Herobrine walked over to the edge of the woods and stopped, still paying the witch no mind as he waited.

The old woman sighed before moving back into the house. "It seems he wants to freeze, if he had checked the map by now then he'd know that there is a large taiga about eight miles from here. What a fool?" She heavy sighed before refolding the hide and holding out for the young miner to take. "If you want to take it then go ahead, 'he' thinks he don't need it but he will. Trust me, without powers he can't regulate his body temperature in that biome or in any biome as a matter of fact. But I am going to let you decide if you want to carry if for him or not?"

"Why are you making me choose?" The young boy asked in curiosity though he already had a feeling as to why.

She held it out and lightly shook it out of impatience. "Let's see? Your inventory is about full, you could always use it for yourself for more warmth, or- you could give it to him yourself and show him how to share?"

Steve didn't say a word as he reached out and took it before storing it away.

"There's a good boy, you have a heart unlike him." She motioned for the miner to exit And they left the house with the witch closing the door behind them.

"What about you? Those are your sheets?"

"I'll be fine. I do have a fireplace and with the my house being so small and without windows it stays nice and warm in there. Don't worry about me child, you need to worry about yourself and Herobrine."

Steve looked at Herobrine the moment the old lady said his name. The being only stood with his back to both of his company. "This isn't going to be easy."

"You are not lying, I'll tell you that." She leaned down and patted him on the head and he only raised a brow in confusion from the taps. The kid wasn't used to being treated like a child anymore and she could tell by his expression but he wasn't too bothered by it. "You're a good kid, … or a good person. Either I guess works in this situation?"

"Yeah." He lightly chuckled and playfully swatted the hand away, his dad used to do that to him a lot. "Thanks for the help, I will try my best with changing h-" Steve quickly caught himself in mid-sentence as Herobrine turned around and gazed at them. "Changing us back." He simply finished.

"Yes. You 'DO' your best Steve and 'DON'T' fail." She made a quick wink to indicate her real words from their past discussion.

Herobrine raised a brow of his own, confused as to why his enemy seemed so comfortable to go on this trip. Was the miner planning something? Did he not know that they were enemies and after they reach their goal that the being was going to kill him as soon as the moment he gets his power back? Herobrine narrowed his eyes. This entire trip with the curse would be useless, he was still going to regain his older form and kill the miner and the witch but they didn't seem to be concerned at all. That old hag was really stupid, she was only delaying the inevitable. She must really be old and dim-witted if she thinks that making this ridiculous journey after turning them into kids and telling him how to be free of it would be benefit her or the miner. It would have been more rational to just kill him in his weakened state but neither of the humans before him seem to see the clever idea which favored him, but just knowing how careless they were over the opportunity bothered him more than he ever wanted it to.

"Are we going or not?" The angered child asked while tapping his foot in impatience and frustration.

The young miner glared at Herobrine and crossed his arms. "Yes, patience." He looked at the witch and made a weak smile. "I will try not to let you down. … Also, I forgot to ask your name?"

"It's Annah, and I know you will do great but remember; behave yourself. The both of you." She looked at both of the boys then lightly pressed as Steve's back to get him moving along though he seemed reluctant to move at all. She could see his real feelings from behind the fake smile, she could tell from the boy's body language that he wasn't all that excited to leave. He was probably frightened like he was walking through the woods earlier but she knows he can beat his fear if he tries hard enough. At least he wasn't alone. She knew that Herobrine was going to have to toughen Steve back up, but hopefully doing so in a way that wasn't going to result in fights. "You boys need to get going, it'll be dark in before you know it."

"Okay." Steve took a deep breath and left the old woman's side, feeling chills as he now looked ahead at the forest. There was no telling what could be lurking in those shadowy woods, creepers was his first thought and he shook from it.

"What's wrong Steve?" Herobrine hissed the miner's name. "Afraid of the trees?"

"No!" He raised a fist and growled lowly to himself.

"Don't even start it boys!" Annah placed her hands on her hips and shook her head in disbelief, wondering if her visions were stirring the kids in the right direction. Herobrine had intentions to provoke Steve and that poor child seemed to fall for the goading to easily, they would be at each other's throats again soon. She watched as Steve slowly made his way next to Herobrine and the being simply ignored his very presence and Steve then pretended to do the same. They looked so much alike, as if real brothers. For some reason that thought made the old witch smile. "You know, you two are like brothers? You both share the same flesh and blood and you certainly act like it when you fight, so you two should try to get along like brothers are supposed to. Now behave boys and good luck. Oh, and remember Steve, time is of the essence and everything, everybody you know and care depends on you. 'He' depends on you."

Steve quietly nodded and dared not to look at his counterpart, Herobrine still had no idea of his true intentions. The process was probably going to move slow but that he expected.

"Brothers? Ha!" The bad one scoffed. "We may share some features but trust me, we are nothing alike."

"What he said." The miner said with a frown.

"I was just speaking from my mind, now run along. You shouldn't be wasting time."

"For once, I agree." Herobrine turned on his heels and began his trek through the woods and Steve only looked back but was still hesitant to follow.

"Are you sure about this Annah? We're only kids out in the world by ourselves with nothing but a few items to keep us moving for a short while, I can't even be sure if 'I' am ready?" He rubbed the back of his neck in nervousness and searched the ground before moving his eyes up to the witch who was now walking back to her house. She made a short stop.

"Go." Annah said as she continued to walk away. She felt bad that she had to say it in such a careless manner but the miner wasn't moving and Herobrine was getting ahead. She soon heard the young miner exhale softly before the sound of his rushing footsteps through the long grass. Those footfalls disappeared quickly and she left a sigh of her own escape her lips. Annah slowly opened her door and moved inside the house without looking back, she really hoped for their safety and hoped she made the right decision in letting them go it alone. Fate was in Steve's hands now and she strongly prayed that her dark visions would cease.

The young miner saw his double several yards away and sprinted after the boy, he was going to just leave without him and that was down right mean and foolish. Steve finally caught up and paced a few feet back behind the being, Herobrine did have the map after all.

"Now I'm not going to hold your hand like you did with the old hag so keep up." The double said in a harsh and thoughtless tone.

Steve rolled his eyes and folded his arms in anger bubbling up again. He couldn't believe this guy's purpose was to protect him.

…

**A/N: Okay, now they are starting their journey. This chapter was longer than I thought it was going to be but oh well, at least you enjoyed right? Let me hear your thoughts. Review? :D**


	5. In The Woods

**Binds That Tie**

**Chapter 5: In The Woods**

**A/N: Nothing much to say right now, so go ahead and enjoy!**

…

Herobrine carefully studied the map on their hike through the woods and looked all around him to see any kind of visible landmarks that would give him the direction he needed to go, but all he could see was tree after tree and dense shrubs through the forest. He was definitely too short to see the mountain range that was shown southwest by the map and the heavy overcast blocked out the sun so he couldn't even tell which way was west. The miner had the compass and he should have taken it when he had the chance but he didn't think he would need it. His mistake. He has been to many places and this area was familiar but for some reason he just couldn't remember the woods and trails around him. He always just teleported to where he wanted to go but now he was stuck on foot and having a hard time remembering the woods he often chased the miner through. Speaking of the miner?

The young being slightly tilted his head to see Steve slowly lagging behind and having his gaze shoot in every direction with every step. The boy practically looked like a wolf with it's tail tucked between it's legs, frightened and anxious. It was a pathetic sight really, it almost made him want to laugh but at the pace he was going he was going to be left behind and then the being would never return to his true state. "Pick it up or get left behind?" He said with venom present in his voice.

The young being's words snapped Steve out of his fearful trance and he glared at Herobrine. "Shut up. You don't even know what kind of danger we are in or what we'll likely even run into?"

"Oh really? Let's see what is an immediate threat here?" He stopped in his tracks and quickly scanned the woods around him, not picking up any kind or sound or sight of movement. … "Nothing." He blankly concluded. "Now come on, I don't intend on being a pathetic powerless child longer than I have to."

"Well you're just going to have to be patient!" Steve barked, his anger quickly died as loud shifting sounds came from around one of the bushes nearby. In fearful reaction he sprinted in the other boy's direction and just kept running, there was no telling what was in those shrubs but he wasn't about to find out. "All right let's go!" He said as he zoomed past the being without once looking back.

Herobrine then chased right after the miner, actually a little contented that the boy's own fear was pushing them faster through the woodlands and he was glad to be moving. He was losing patience at a quick rate and Steve just inching along really annoyed him, but at least now they were making a bit of ground. The run still didn't help establish a certain direction and for all he knew; they could be heading the wrong way. They could be running the opposite way and wasting all of this time and energy for nothing. That was an annoying thought.

He held the old sheet in his run and tried to look it over again, he deeply frowned and growled; getting agitated that the edges of the piece of paper was flopping in the wind and somewhat blocking part of the map that they were supposed to be traveling to. He needed that compass. He took the map and folded it before placing it back into his inventory and picked up his pace. He let the miner get quite far up ahead and that kid didn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. The being pressed himself to run faster and started to make up ground to catch back up to Steve, but as he grew nearer something began to happen to him. This new feeling was taking over his body and making him feel fatigued and weak, it was not too familiar to him. He definitely wasn't used to it.

His heart was pounding so fast in his chest and that he thought it would just explode at any moment, it felt so heavy in his ribcage and the beats it made; pulsed loud enough for him to hear it in his head. The boy gasped for air in his pursuit of the miner, it was like his lungs shrank in size and he couldn't breathe in enough air to keep his heated body cool. Small beads of moisture formed on his forehead and trickled down the sides of his face as he ran, it annoyed him and he took a brief moment to wipe away the itching fluid irritating his skin with the back of his hand. His legs started to ache and he couldn't understand why. He couldn't understand why his body was 'breaking down' and causing him so much discomfort. The being had hardly ever felt fatigue and now he was feeling a whole lot of it and they haven't even moved that far. He groaned as an unpleasant feeling of heat built up in his legs, the burn in his muscles intensified and it hurt. That was something he never felt before, he was feeling a lot of unusual things in this small powerless form of his and it was hardly bearable.

He continued to watch the miner sprint and that boy was getting far ahead again, right after Herobrine worked his way and almost caught up but unfortunately slowed down to allow his new body to catch up on air and relieve tension off of his muscles.

How did that human do it? Did all humans feel these aches in the body while running or moving around? He thought.

He now believed that maybe the pathetic humans had it bad, but he wasn't supposed to feel their pain. He was better than them, at least in his more powerful form. He really needed to get rid of the curse and soon, otherwise he was going to go mad from the feeling of weakness. Herobrine pressed himself to go faster again despite how much pain he was feeling, Steve was really far away now. No one was supposed to be faster than the being, even in this form; yet Steve was. But Herobrine was now moving slower than a human child was a low blow to the being's pride. He was starting to regret telling the miner that he was great at running because that human was seriously outlasting and outrunning him in the chase.

The miner had finally slowed to a stop and rested his back against a nearby oak tree, he panted loudly and wiped away the sweat from his face while taking in large gulps of oxygen to relieve his tiring lungs. Though he felt winded and tired he smiled, he had escaped potential danger back there and he moved fast enough to keep the powerless double satisfied. Or so he thought. He opened his eyes and looked down through the tall trees to finally see his counterpart now catching back up to him, he didn't expect that he would leave the being behind so easily. Maybe he was better at running after all? He grinned at that thought. Herobrine can go ahead and eat his words for all he cared.

Steve was tempted to rub Herobrine's own words in his face but he ultimately chose not to, he was supposed to be trying to get along; not deepen their rivalry.

Herobrine slowed as he reached Steve and moved the nearest tree on the other side of the human child and slumped next to the tree stump, taking deep breaths and refusing to look at the more superior sprinter. He wiped more sweat away and looked up as a darker shadow cast over him. Steve was right there standing in front of him with a hand stretch down to help the being up but Herobrine refused it and snorted. He swatted the hand away and glared. "I-I don't ne-ed your he-help." He darkly muttered in between breaths.

Steve tried to be the nice guy and offer some assistance but Herobrine wasn't going to take it. He actually felt a little offended to have Herobrine to swat away at him like that but he knew that he was going to have to get used to the cold-shoulder, kid or not- Herobrine still retained a lot of his solitary-mindedness, his pride, and his overpowering mentality. "Okay, I was just trying to be helpful." He shrugged and moved away.

Herobrine took a few deep breaths and steadied his breathing. "You want to be helpful?" He asked.

Steve immediately turned around, hoping that Herobrine's not so vile sounding words meant an open chance to change the boy a bit. "How?"

"Give me the compass?" Herobrine said with a demanding tone, anger present in his voice. He pushed himself off of the ground and stood up before holding out an empty hand. "Give it to me now so that I can lead the way."

The miner felt appalled that the being made such a demand and with that attitude. Steve backed away and shook his head. "Nu-uh. No way." He balled his fists. "Annah gave me the compass and so using it is my responsibility, I was also supposed to get the map but you stole it!"

"That old hag held it out and you didn't take it so I did, you had your chance." Herobrine rebelled, he moved closer with his hand still empty.

"No! I was going to grab it but you took it because you thought it was one of the only things we needed on this trip and it was your mistake not to take the compass in the first place! What good is a map without a compass?"

"Give it." He sneered.

"Admit that you needed it and didn't take it because of your own stubbornness and I just might?"

"No! Now give it here?" He moved closer to the miner but Steve stopped and stood his ground, refusing to open his inventory and pull it out. "Give it!" He shouted loudly and balled up his fists; either trying to coercer the miner into giving it to him or start a fight.

"No! That is final!" Steve gestured with his own raised fist. "I am not going to let you bully me Herobrine, if you want to borrow it then ask me nicely but I am not going to just hand it to you."

Herobrine lowered his hands and turned away. "Fine." He seethed. "But if we go the wrong way and take longer than we need to then it is your fault. If we get lost it's your fault. If we roam for days in circles then it's-"

"Listen!" Steve shouted then exhaled. "Let's just work together on this okay? You use the map and I use the compass, this way we can get to our destination and no one is at fault since we work as a team. We also won't have to take anything from each other, see? Win-win situation."

The fuming being hated the idea of working with the miner, the one he was supposed to have killed already and be completely free of his revenge. "That's what you think." He whispered lowly.

"What did you say?" Steve raised a brow but kept the tone of his voice serious and stout.

"I said; that can work… I think?" He lied through his barred teeth.

Steve let out a sigh of relief, finally appearing to make some progress on getting along with Herobrine. "Alright then." He said with a more upbeat tone and reached into inventory to take out the compass. He moved around until he was facing thirty degrees from their original direction. "Okay, this way is- is." He tapped the compass and smiled. "This way is west." He pointed.

Herobrine eyed the little object sitting in the miner's hand and it was barely guarded, he took the open opportunity and tackled Steve to get the item. He refused to work with the miner.

Steve felt something reaching his hand and he balled up his fist with the small item inside. "Herobrine what are y-" Steve felt a heavy weight fly into his side and he toppled to the ground with the being now on top of him with his hands wrapped tightly around Steve's. "Get off!"

"Give me- that compass-" Herobrine sneered as he tried to pry Steve's fingers loose but the miner wasn't just going to hand it over so easily.

"I said no! We… have… to… work to-…together." Steve snarled between his teeth. He moved his free hand back to the item and he pulled it close to his chest to keep it out of Herobrine's clutches. He managed to pry one of the being's hands off and replace it with his to have a better grasp on the compass.

"Never!" Herobrine yelled. He then grabbed Steve's wrists and jerked at them, fully determined to rip the object out of the boy's hand one way or another. "Now give it to me!" He jerked back and caused the miner to wince from the pull of his skin.

"I said no! Now let go of me!"

"Give me the compass and I will!?"

This was getting annoying to Steve and quick, Herobrine was not only hurting his wrists but he was also sitting on him to add to the discomfort with the other's weight. Something in his mind told him to lean forward and bite the force hurting him but he shook his head and resisted. He wasn't going to act like a kid, but he was going to get Herobrine off of him. He moved his hands and the compass to one side and then to the other in an abrupt fashion, making the being rock. "Get- off!" Steve repeated his swings over and over again and this time with more force, a few swings after caused Herobrine to sling off and let go of the miner. Steve quickly rushed to his feet and stuck the compass back into his safe inventory, Herobrine wasn't going to get it.

Herobrine growled as he stood up, looking as if he was about to start slamming fists at the other boy but he only turned away and silently griped.

"You can't have it Herobrine! You can use it if you ask nicely but until then? No."

The being then started off in the direction that Steve first pointed to and the human boy followed after but more slowly to avoid anymore ticks or ambushes from the other.

…

…

The two walked in silence for a while. Herobrine was still heated but Steve was finally cooling off and paying more attention to his surroundings. He took a quick second to check his compass to make sure they were still heading the right way and then removed it from sight. They were still westbound. Steve was starting to feel uneasy as they trekked deeper into the woods, the amount of overgrowth was becoming a bit alarming. There was trees and shrubs everywhere and barely any room for a path. He felt closed in and the tall trees only made that feeling grow. There was also a lot of shadows from the foliage, enough shadow for monsters to safely lurk in and even the path they were on now was starting to darken. This part of the woods wasn't familiar to him, it was like no one had ever lived out here so trees and bushes had grown way out of control. It wasn't a jungle specifically but it was starting to feel like it.

He noticed that Herobrine had slowed down to check his map and so Steve decided to keep an eye out while the being did so. He looked to his left and then to right, keeping his eyes wide open; on the search for any kind of movement. For a second; everything seemed fine, that was until a branch snapped.

He froze in place and looked only in the direction of the noise, he slowly moved away from the sound while keeping his eyes glued to that spot. He quickly took the wooden sword out of his inventory and held it out in front of him, hoping he could do any damage at all to what was ever moving close by. He mentally prayed to Notch that it wasn't a creeper.

"There's nothing there." Herobrine protested and growled from annoyance as he moved the sheet out of his face to see the miner acting very paranoid, he guessed from Steve's quite gasps that the boy was thinking that there was some creature nearby. He didn't hear or sense anything, it was obvious that the human was hearing things from the fear in his imagination. He continued to walk on without the miner.

Steve clung tightly to the sword, still ready to be used if he need it to be, if he could just will up enough courage. He followed closely behind Herobrine and kept his dull weapon close. The bushes rattled again and caused him great apprehension, he was shaking now and stopped in the middle of the path and slowly turned until he was fully facing the dense woods and the rustling sounds. "Y-ye-yes there is-is!" He loudly stuttered before backing away until he was now behind Herobrine. For some reason he felt more safer with the demon in front of him and that just wasn't right but the feeling of security was there and it was enough.

Herobrine blinked as the something moved behind the trees in shadow, he couldn't make out what creature or monster it was but he wasn't going to be intimidated by it. He might have been stripped of his power but his pride could never be taken away nor broken. He switched his map out with the wooden pickaxe and cautiously moved closer to the sounds of footfalls. He couldn't believe that he didn't detect the stalker quick enough, that meant that his ability to hear flawlessly and sense movement was gone too. Was there anything the damned curse didn't take? He silently asked himself.

"What are you doing Herobrine?" Steve whispered in anxiety, wondering why the powerless being was going to provoke a possible hostile mob.

"I'm going to destroy this irritation." He replied with a sneer, mad that something was stalking him for once. The young being narrowed his eyes and walked around the first bush, he stopped as the figure moved behind another tree; again hidden in the shadows. Herobrine tried to use his perfect eyesight to see the mob in the dark but he couldn't. He snorted irately and pressed forward, even more agitated that one of his greatest abilities was also taken away. He squinted to find the creature but it disappeared and the sounds stopped … that was until the brush behind him shook. He inched forward, unsure if he was just hearing things and then instantly flinched as something landed on his shoulder. He quickly backhanded the attacking creature and prepared to slam his wooden pick into the target only to slap away the miner's hand and nearly strike him?

Steve had barely ducked in time to avoid being hit by the blunt object. "Hey, watch it!?" He stood back up and held his head.

"What are you doing? And don't ever touch me!" Herobrine snarled and made his counterpart back away.

"Sorry, but I don't think going after this thing is such a good idea?" He said while rubbing his hand. "We just started this journey, we don't want to end it now."

Herobrine snorted. "If you think I am going to turn and run away then you are wrong, I'm not going to let some dumb mob scare me!"

"Will you just think about what's at stake? We should get going why- why-wh-…" Steve stopped and lifted his hand as he quietly gawked and pointed directly behind Herobrine with wide eyes.

Herobrine quickly turned towards the shadows and saw a shape in the dark now coming towards him. He moved his pick behind his head; prepared to swing it as the shadowed creature neared him.

Steve quickly stumbled backwards and fell onto his rear and scooted away until he was in a safe enough distance and out of the monster's reach.

Herobrine tightened his hold on the pick and started to sling it at the creature until it bleated. He silently gaped at the now visible creature in white that trotted to him and then around him. "You've got to be kidding me?"

Steve blinked and took a deep breath of relief, resting one hand on his chest to find that the supposed monster was only a gentle natured animal that would never be hostile.

"You've GOT TO BE KIDDING ME?!" He repeated louder with rage and disbelief. He just wasted his time for nothing.

"It was just a sheep, who would have thought?" Steve stood up and laughed to himself as he watched the friendly animal trot into the woods. His laughter died as Herobrine trudged out of the brush and started back on the trail to nowhere. The boy seemed so annoyed over something so silly, yet he only got mad and couldn't even laugh at the ridiculousness and seriousness of the situation that they took. "Hey, lighten up will ya? It's funny how we thought it was a monster stalking us but it was just a sheep?" He quietly laughed again but he noticed that Herobrine still didn't see the hilarity of the situation and stomped off all mad.

"Come on." Herobrine started.

"Killjoy." Steve whispered to himself. He glanced around the woods once more then followed close behind.

…

**A/N: So Herobrine is pretty much human? Oh what fun he'll have. XD Okay, please review and tell me what you think? I didn't get many views or reviews last chapter in fact I had a total of '11' views for nearly two full days. It's now like 112 but if this story isn't that appealing then I'll drop it and work on the one that I know people love to read(Hero's bane). Let me know if you like this or not? I want to please my readers(mostly the majority because I can't please everyone no matter how much I want to). Right now things for this story is a little edgy and the beginning was great but I can say that the ending is just amazingly epic(A really nice fight scene and other stuffs and no it's ****NOT ****Herobrine vs. Steve… but Herobrine is fighting, it is great. If I ever get there? I can already see the fight in my head!**

**Hope you enjoyed. ;)**


	6. Rain

**Binds That Tie**

**Chapter 6: Rain**

**A/N: Sorry for the late update but I had a bit of a writer's block on this chapter. Apologies. But anyways, Read and Enjoy!**

**Also Important Notice: I have some good ideas for the journey but I want to hear some of yours, so give me some in your reviews and I 'might' use them if they fit my storyline(absolutely no Ocs). No promises though, but some fresh ideas would be nice and help fight some of these writing blocks. You may also pm me.**

**Read!**

…

Steve yawned as he passed under huge oak and birch trees, now feeling a little tired and even hungry from their long trek. It had been a few silent hours hiking through the dense woodlands and he didn't feel like they were getting anywhere, the forest on the map must be massive. He wanted to look at the map to see just how big the biome was but that was a fat chance since Herobrine was the one carrying the marked paper, he was either going to have to wait and peek at it from over the other's shoulder when the being looks at it again or get lucky and have the boy show it to him out of kindness. … Oh wait, that was unlikely, very unlikely. Herobrine seemed to hate him even more than he did when they were adults so he was just going to have to get lucky one way or another or not see it at all. What wonderful odds? The younger miner rolled his eyes in exasperation.

His legs were starting to hurt now and he felt like he just needed a few minutes to sit down and rest, he also hadn't eaten anything for a while now. The last time he ate something was the on the morning of the day Herobrine tried to kill him and that was before being turned into a kid, that was nearly twenty-four hours ago and now his stomach was starting to rumble and painfully twist to his displeasure. He had a feeling he wouldn't be getting out the forest anytime soon so he decided to see if his counterpart wanted to take a short break, he could even take a second to eat one of the apples that the witch gave him.

"Hey Herobrine?" Steve asked cautiously; only several feet away from the being and trailing in the boy's footsteps. He could tell from the other's rigid posture that the boy was still in a sour mood. Holding a grudge was the white-eyed boy's profession, Steve didn't believe that anyone else could match Herobrine at that. … He didn't get a response after waiting a few seconds so he asked again with a nicer tone. "Herobrine?"

"What!?" Came the being's heated voice. Herobrine stopped and spun on his heels until he was facing the miner, unsurprisingly; still mad even after a few hours of complete silence.

"Aren't you feeling a bit tired? I think we should stop for a couple of minutes and rest a bit, we could also eat and restore some energy?"

"No." Herobrine turned his back to the miner with a fast reply. "There is no need to, we can do without for a few more hours." He said folding his arms with a deep frown plastered on his face.

"Yeah right!" Steve threw his arms out before lowering them and coiling his hands. "I know you want to keep going but I also know that you are tired too! … Don't try and fake it." He added as Herobrine started walking again.

"We going to go as far as we possibly can before taking any breaks, we can take a short one later. Maybe in the next three hours or so?"

Steve looked up to the gray sky and noticed that it was darkening, not just from possible rain clouds but the dark tint in general was a good sign that the sun would be setting soon. "But it will be night by then!"

"Don't you humans sleep at night? That is rest isn't it?"

The young miner fumed from the other's smart and smug tone. He was right but he was also being inconsiderate, only continuing to walk without rest for his own selfish reasons. Yes the miner was a human but Herobrine was now practically one too, the being was just hurting himself in the long run. Steve seethed for a few seconds but sighed and let his arms fall to his sides in defeat, there was no point in to trying to argue with the other. Herobrine was just plain stubborn and egocentric, starting fights wasn't going to do him any good in the long run.

Steve picked up his pace and walked behind the being, he felt his stomach groan and twist and so he placed a hand over his abdomen and rubbed it to soothe the ache. It didn't help. He then reached into his inventory and took out one of the apples not caring if Herobrine didn't want to stop; that didn't mean that he couldn't eat while they walked. So he rubbed the red fruit on his shirt and took a big bite, a large smile formed on his face as the sweet savory taste hit his starved taste buds. He inadvertently hummed in delight as chewed on the piece, it was so good and fresh.

Herobrine tilted his head back slightly to see what the miner droned on about and saw him taking a bite of a big red apple, the bite had a crisp sound to it and he even thought he could smell a faint aroma coming from the bitten fruit. He quickly moved his head back onto the path as the miner finished up the bite and looked up ahead. The young being felt his mouth water and stomach roll as the human took bite after bite, he never had to eat before to stop hunger pangs. Hunger didn't even exist to him. He often ate some foods just to try them out of curiosity; like golden apples, he enjoyed them the most but eating was a luxury then. Now that he was turned into a kid; he felt this dull empty ache rolling inside of him and the miner was making it worse. The being was hungry. Herobrine shook his head back and forth to get this pain to go away but that didn't do anything but make his head hurt.

Steve raised a brow when he saw his malevolent companion shake his head and grunt in irritation, it was unusual to see him try and what seemed to be; giving himself a headache. "You alright?" He calmly asked.

Herobrine ignored him. He wasn't hungry, at least that is what he told himself but it was hard top deny this new pain so he gave in to his denial. Still, that didn't mean he had to admit to it aloud or actually eat.

"Are you hungry? I have a few more apples if you want-?"

"I'm not hungry." He lied through his teeth, the hunger was actually very annoying but he fought the strange contractions in his abdomen and kept moving forward.

Steve could tell that Herobrine was lying, his stomach was no longer growling but he could hear a small rumble coming from the other's. He was deciding on pulling out an apple and give it to Herobrine anyways but he stopped himself within seconds of thinking about the idea, if Herobrine wanted to starve himself then so be it. The being didn't want to stop and rest and didn't want any food, so why give any? It was a tough thing to do with his moral standings but just remembering what that boy did to his parents had kept him from taking the fruit out of his inventory. "Okay." He said impassively.

…

It had been an hour since he ate and now he was feeling a little exhausted, he wasn't fairing too badly though; he was walking faster than Herobrine now and was actually only a few feet behind him. He could easily pass up the being who seemed to be moving more slowly but he preserved his energy and paced himself, he didn't trust Herobrine enough to put his back to him anyways.

Steve carefully observed his surroundings; keeping an eye out for landmarks and of course; mobs. It wasn't much longer before he spotted what looked like a large oak that was missing leaves on one side, a very similar tree he saw earlier nearly two hours ago actually. The large plant looked like it had been struck by lightning at one point and partially caught on fire from the strike, just like the first one he saw a while ago. As he passed under it he stared hard at the bark and then his eyes went wide after remembering the exact shapes of the burn marks. Slightly panicking; he pulled out his compass and checked it, he stopped dead in his tracks and held it still only to find the arrow now pointing northeast. That couldn't be right. He tapped on the small trinket and steadied his shaky hand but the arrow still pointed north when they were supposed to be heading west. "Uh Herobrine?" Steve nervously called for the other boy, having a feeling that it was sort of his fault that they were now heading in the wrong direction. "We're going- the wrong way."

A few yards ahead the little being stopped and turned his head in a slow unhurried manner with a dark expression. "What did you just say?"

"We-we're going the wrong way! Look at that tree!" Steve quickly pointed to the tall oak at his side and Herobrine's eyes widened then narrowed sharply as they moved them back onto the miner. "We past that tree a little over two hours ago, I just know it!"

"Are you trying to tell me the we are going in circles?!" Herobrine stomped one foot down and balled his hands into fists.

The miner nodded lightly with concern, Herobrine was already mad now and the boy seemed even more furious with his deepening expression. Steve sunk back a little from the other's pose; that kid looked he was about to run up to him, tackle him, and beat him to death.

"This is all your fault!" He pointed accusingly at Steve. He huffed loudly and searched his inventory.

"My fault?" The miner repeated with a little confusion. He was starting to believe that it was him to blame but after seeing Herobrine pull out the map and check over it; he started to feel that it wasn't just his. "It's only mine? Hey, you had the map!"

"Yes, and you have the compass! That little thing is more useful than this stupid piece of paper!" He said, now crunching the sheet with his tightening grasp out of anger. "I can't see anything beyond the trees so your 'responsibility' with that little item is to stir us in the right direction!"

"That maybe true but you are the one leading the way if you haven't yet noticed, your so self-centered that you don't want any help from me! You even tried to take the compass yourself so that 'only' you could lead the way!"

Herobrine sneered. "You are slow and you insist on taking breaks but I can get us to where we need to be going sooner if I had that compass, you apparently aren't using it anyways so why not give it to me?"

Steve ground his teeth. "You were the one to try and take it from me! I had insisted that we worked together but you didn't want to! I had to keep the compass put away so that you wouldn't take it from me! If we'd just work together then-."

"I'd rather die than work with you." Herobrine darkly muttered.

That was a low verbal punch to the gut, Steve was getting too heated to realize that he was supposed to be getting along with the demon and try and change him but he was letting his bad attitude intensify Herobrine's. He shouldn't have to be worrying about his own attitude, it was justifiable to say the things he said; the way he said it. If only the circumstances were different would he not even have to concern himself with time or changing the being in the first place. But then… that bleak future would eventually ensue. Steve let his narrowed eyes soften as he thought about Herobrine's purpose and about him going mad from the loss of his reason for being. It was bad enough that the being wasn't created with life experiences or sentimental emotions, Herobrine only knew negativity and hate that he learned from his summoners that tried to dispose of him after he refused to do as they commanded.

The young miner let out a heavy sigh in defeat and held out the small compass and looked away, pride surely wasn't worth failure at this point. "Here. It's pretty much 'my' fault that we wasted the past few hours so just take it and lead the way." He said with discontent.

Herobrine swiftly snatched the compass out of the other's hand just in case the miner was trying to pull off some kind of trick. He then raised a brow at the miner after he took the small item and the other boy didn't try to take it back, in fact; Steve's hand went limp and fell to his side and he didn't make any kind of movement afterwards. Steve only looked at the ground and stayed silent as he stood there. "About time you realize your mistake, your-… uselessness." Young Herobrine said with a nasty tone.

The young being was expecting some kind of verbal retaliation or reaction from his words but none ever came, it was kind of strange to see the other so… submissive after their arguments and scuffles. Even after their many violent encounters when they were adults, that miner wasn't strong but he didn't surrender so easily back then so why would he now?

"You really are pathetic. You've made us waste over two hours of walking, now it's getting closer to nighttime and as much as I would loathe to admit; I cannot see well in the dark, not anymore." He said now glancing up to see the gray sky getting darker before glaring at the other boy. "That would also be your fault as well as that old hag's. You humans are weak, cowardly, and useless. Every last one of you. You can't even defend yourselves! Your kind have to create godly beings just to do your dirty work! All of you are cowards!"

He expected the human double to make some explosive remark form his line of insults but nothing came from the boy's mouth, he only stood there and took the worded abuse. For some reason this made the white-eyed one more angry so he decided to see if he could provoke a reaction by pushing it more.

"You can't do anything right and you can't do anything alone, worthless and useless mortal! Your existence is meaningless! You disgust me you pathetic block of dirt!" Herobrine growled through his teeth and forcefully shoved Steve's chest with his free hand and cause the miner to lose his balance and fall to the ground.

Steve felt the back of his head smacking against the 'not so soft' grass blocks, he winced as he sat up and rubbed the now tingling sore spot. The miner's teeth began to grind. A part of him wanted to just tackle Herobrine to the ground and start clobbering him, beating some sense into him for all of those insults that made him felt bad. He could almost see himself sitting on the being's stomach with bloody knuckles, his fists were lightly coated in the red fluid. He could almost see Herobrine's shocked face and bloody nose that he struck too much. Just imagining that face made his anger fade.

Steve took a long and deep breath before finally moving his gaze up to the other boy but he remained quiet and pushed himself off of the ground.

The being expected something for sure this time but he got nothing again, not even a single word. There was no shove back like he did earlier that day. No punches were thrown, no nasty comebacks, nor any kind signal that read retribution. It was strange and seemingly out of Steve's character, especially after what looked like him fuming only to drop the rage quickly and just deal with the being's wrath. Herobrine faced away from the miner after receiving barely any kind of response, he had vented away a lot of his anger and was starting to cool down.

Herobrine inhaled deeply and steadied his shaking hands as he looked down at the compass, he then turned to his right so that he was now facing west. Pulling up the crumpled map he tried to unfold it with both of his small hands but it was proving difficult to hold onto both items at the same time. He growled in annoyance and looked down at the paper to see large creases hiding some of the marked terrain, the map was warped with it's folds. It annoyed him how he couldn't hold onto the sheet and keep the compass lying perfectly flat in his hands, it would have been more easier to do if his hands weren't so small.

White eyes carefully studied the paper as he bent it at an angle to reveal what was hidden in the creases. The being's eyes traced the outside of the large forest until a huge drop of water pelted the crumpled corner and splashed outwards, some of the drop splashed on his hand and so he tore his attention from the map and looked up at the clouds. A few stray drops rainwater pelted the ground before him as a slightly chilly breeze blew across his face, a distant rumble soon followed.

The miner looked all around as more and more drops fell, the sound of the droplets pattering against the tree leaves soon filled his ears as well as the grumbling from the sky. A single drop of water hit his eye as he looked up and he instantly winced from the sudden cold force. He rubbed the drop away only to feel a few more drops now dotting his shoulders and the crown of his head. The falling water soon picked up and the miner immediately grew worried as darker clouds moved in with the daylight slowly coming to it's end. Steve quickly scanned the area around him and immediately darted under a tree as the water soaked through his sleeves, it was cold and the light wind blowing through the woods only made chills run across his skin.

More drops of water started to dampen the map so Herobrine quickly folded the paper and pocketed it as the rain picked up. He took a quick look at the compass before turning around to see the miner missing. He looked through the trees around and found Steve leaning up against an oak with his arms wrapped around his waist, slightly shivering from the cool breeze. "And just what are you doing?" He asked in annoyance.

"It's raining and it's cold! It's also getting dark too! We need to make shelter with the remaining light we have and we need to do it quick before the mobs come out!" He shouted in his defense.

Being wet from standing out in the pouring rain was annoying to the being as well as his cooling skin with the wind running across his drenched features, but he ignored it as best as he could. Herobrine wasn't going to let a little water slow him down, he was better than a human. "Water is not going to kill you human, I'll have that pleasure soon enough. Now come out from under there or just stay here alone in the woods while I leave."

"I am not getting myself sick Herobrine! Besides, we have to build a shelter to protect us from monsters or we're not going to make it to the morning. So let's just use the spot right here-" He pointed down to his feet his feet. "I have some wooden planks to block-"

"No, we continue to move now." Herobrine rudely suggested. "We still have plenty of time."

"No we don't!" Steve quickly said as he rubbed his chilled arms. "It's going to take at least an hour to set up camp! We need to get a fire going soon because it's getting colder and darker by the second, so can you please allow me to use the flint and steel?"

"Never." The being narrowed his eyes deeply.

"Ah come on?!" The miner slumped in his posture, he couldn't get Herobrine to agree or do anything.

"Muaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh." A low deep and soft moan came from behind Steve along with the sounds of some bushes rattling several blocks away.

More chills now lined his spine and he quickly fled the dry spot from under the tree and moved out into the rain near Herobrine, now keeping his eyes glued on the spot that the moan came from. The monsters were moving about already and more would certainly come out soon.

…

**A/N: Next chapter is called: A Night Of Terror. (A Halloween kind of thing huh?) I suppose you could guess what that ensues. Like I said before, you can pm or review me some ideas. I may or may not so don't complain if you make a suggestion and I don't use it. I need some more ideas. Anyways, hope you enjoyed and yes, Herobrine is still being a little jerk for now but maybe Steve can change him in time? Maybe. ;D**

**Anyways, sorry for the long wait and I hope you enjoyed. Review please? Keep my eagerness alive to continue this story.**


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